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>USE No. 186. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



TO BE CONTAINED IN THE FORTY-NINTH 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD 

OF COMMISSIONERS ON 

FISHERIES AND 

GAME. 



BOSTON : 

WEIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 

32 DERNE STREET. 

1915. 



0. OF ti. 

WAY 22 1315 






Sl)c tfommontucaltl) of ittassacljusctte. 



RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE CONTAINED IN 
THE FORTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ON FISHERIES 
AND GAME. 

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives: 

In compliance with the provisions of chapter 452 of the 
Acts of 1910 the Commissioners on Fisheries and Game have 
the honor to transmit the accompanying parts of their 
forty-ninth annual report which contain recommendations 
for legislative action, together with a draft embodying the 
legislation recommended. 

The reasons for these recommendations are contained in 
the fact that, although the laws relating to the fisheries, 
birds, game, etc., were codified in 1902 as chapters 91 and 
92 of the Revised Laws, the addition of section 138 of 
chapter 91, together with numerous special laws and amend- 
ments, enacted since said revision, has practically nullified 
the results of the revision. As a consequence, our fish and 
game laws are exceedingly complex, in places conflicting, and 
burdened by provisions which have become obsolete through 
changed conditions, and in addition there are numerous 
special laws which give valuable special exclusive privileges 
to a few persons in particular places, to the prejudice of the 
interest of the Commonwealth. 

Further, with the increasing population and the continuous 
advances in the cost of living, it becomes essential that the 
natural resources of the State be intelligently and justly 
maintained, utilized and distributed for the benefit of all the 
people. While the primary aim is simplicity and general 
application of law, broad and careful study has been given 



4 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

to the problems involved in the development of such State 
assets, now decadent and latent, as the insectivorous and 
game birds and quadrupeds and inland, shore and sea 
fisheries. The recommendations herewith submitted are ex- 
pected to secure such development as may most benefit the 
public. 

GEORGE W. FIELD, 
GEORGE H. GRAHAM, 
WILLIAM C, ADAMS, 
Commissioners on Fisheries and Game. 



1915.1 



HOUSE — No. 186. 



AN ACT TO CODIFY THE LAWS RELATING TO 
FISHERIES AND GAME. 

Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 

Definitions and General Provisions. 

Licenses; Hunting and Fishing. 

Quadrupeds. 

Birds. 

Fish. 

Marine Fisheries: — 

Division A, Fish. 

Division B, Mollusks. 

Division C, Crustacea. 
Seines, Nets, Weirs, Traps. 
Fish ways and Screens. 
Preserves. 

Breeding, Importation and Sale of Fish, Game and Fur-bearing Animals. 
Powers and Duties of Commission. 
Deputy Commissioners on Fisheries and Game. 
Time of taking Effect. 



Part 


I. 


Part 


II. 


Part 


III. 


Part 


IV. 


Part 


V 


Part 


VI. 



Part 


VII. 


Part 


VIII. 


Part 


IX. 


Part 


X. 


Part 


XL 


Part 


XII. 


Part 


XIII. 



Part I. — Definitions and General Provisions 

Section 1. Definitions. 

Section 2. Ownership. 

Section 3. Taking; Limit; Possession; Sale and Transportation of Fish, Birds, Game 
and Shellfish restricted. 

Section 4. Fish, Birds and Game legally taken or killed outside the Commonwealth. 

Section 5. Transportation: General; within the Commonwealth; out of the Common- 
wealth. 

Section 6. Importation of Birds or Game. 

Section 7. Importation and Transportation of Fish, Birds and Game lawfully Salable. 

Section 8. Transportation: Special. 

Section 9. Sale. 

Section 10. Presumptive Evidence. 

Section 11. General Provisions relating to Fish, Birds, Game and Shellfish. 

Section 12. Land and Waters open to the Public only to be Stocked. 

Section 13. Violations. 

Section 14. Penalties. 

Section 15. Disposition of Fines recovered under this Act. 



DEFINITIONS. 

1 Section 1. The following words and phrases used in 

2 this act are denned as follows: 

3 1. "Close season", that period of time during which 

4 pursuit, capture, killing or possession is prohibited. 

5 2. "Open season", that period of time during which 

6 pursuit, capture, killing or possession is permitted. 

7 3. "Inclusion and exclusion" of dates: whenever a 

8 period is named during which an act is permitted or pro- 

9 hibited, both dates shall be included. 



6 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

10 4. "Angling" means taking fish by hook and line in 

11 hand or rod in hand; or, if from a boat, by not more than 

12 two lines, with or without rod, to one person. 

13 5. "Fish" includes "fish protected by law", "fish pro- 

14 tected by this article", "food fish ", and all species of 

15 game and edible fish. 

16 6. "Pickerel" includes all fish of the genus Esox. 

17 commonly known as pike, muscallonge and pickerel. 

18 7. "Pike perch" includes wall-eyed pike, yellow or blue 

19 pike and sauger. 

20 8. "Trout" includes all species of trout and salmon. 

21 9. "Bass" includes Oswego or large mouth bass and 

22 small mouth bass. 

23 10. "River fish" includes shad, alewives, sturgeon, 

24 striped bass, smelts, salmon, white and yellow perch, trout. 

25 11. "Mollusk" includes all species of edible and bait 

26 mollusks, such as clams, quahaugs, scallops, oysters, 

27 winkles and razor fish et al. 

28 12. "Crustacea" includes the groups of animals com- 

29 monly called lobsters, crabs and shrimps. 

30 13. "Shellfish" includes all kinds of mollusks and 

31 Crustacea. 

32 14. "Game" includes the wild quadrupeds, other than 

33 fur-bearing, for which an open season is provided. 

34 15. "Domestic game" includes all quadrupeds, except 

35 fur-bearing, artificially raised and possessed as provided 

36 by this act. 

37 16. "Deer" includes all deer not" lawfully held in 

38 private ownership in a preserve wholly enclosed by a 

39 fence. 

40 17. "Birds" includes all birds for which an open season 

41 is provided. 

42 18. "Pheasants" includes all species of pheasants and 

43 their crosses and hybrids. 

44 19. "Fur-bearing animals" means otter, marten, mink, 

45 raccoon, fisher or fisher-cat, skunk, muskrat. 

46 20. "Enclosed land": where lands are described as en- 

47 closed the boundary may be indicated by wire, ditch, 

48 fence, hedge, road, highway or by the water of a pond, 

49 lake or stream when the water is of such extent as to 

50 obviate the necessity of a fence for the confinement of 

51 horses or cattle. 

52 21. "Whole to include part": every provision relating 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 7 

53 to any fish, bird or quadruped shall be deemed to apply 

54 to any part thereof with the same force and effect with 

55 which it applies to the whole. 

56 22. "Sell" and "sale" include barter, exchange and 

57 offering or exposing for sale, or attempting to barter, 

58 exchange, offer or expose for sale, having in possession for 

59 the purpose of barter, exchange, or offering or exposing for 

60 sale; also transfer or delivery for any consideration or 

61 value including wages. 

62 23. "Possession" means both actual and constructive 

63 possession and any control, direct or indirect, of things 

64 mentioned. 

65 24. "Plumage" includes any part of the feathers, quills, 

66 head, wings, tail or skin of any bird; and wherever the 

67 word occurs in this act reference is had to plumage of 

68 birds coming from without, the state as well as to that 

69 obtained within the state; but it shall not be construed 

70 to apply to the feathers of ostriches, domestic fowl or 

71 domestic pigeons. 

72 25. "Inhabited" means a permanent occupancy by a 

73 species as contrasted with the temporary presence of an 

74 occasional individual. 

75 26. "Nets" includes seines, gill nets, pound nets, purse 

76 nets, trap nets, scap nets, fyke nets, dip nets, scoop nets 

77 and stake nets, and all other devices of a similar nature, 

78 and used for the purpose of taking fish, birds or quad- 

79 rupeds. 

80 27. "Taking" includes pursuing, shooting, hunting, 

81 killing, capturing, trapping, snaring, netting, fish, birds 

82 and game, and all lesser acts, such as disturbing, harrying 

83 or worrying, or placing, setting, drawing or using any net 

84 or other device commonly used to take fish and game. 

85 whether they result in taking or not; and includes every 

86 attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other 

87 person in taking or attempting to take fish, birds or game. 

88 A person who counsels, aids or assists in a violation of 

89 any of the provisions of this article, or knowingly shares 

90 in any of the proceeds of such violation by receiving or 

91 possessing either fish, birds or game, shall be deemed to 

92 have incurred the penalties provided in this act in the case 

93 of the person guilty of such violation. Whenever taking 

94 is allowed by law, reference is had to taking by lawful 

95 means and in lawful manner. 



8 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

96 28. "Transport" and "transportation" mean all carry- 
9.7 ing or moving or causing to be carried or moved within 

98 or without the state. 

99 29. "Bag limit": the number of any kind of game, 

100 birds, fish, shellfish or Crustacea permitted to be taken in 

101 a specified time. 

102 30. "Resident" is intended to cover all citizens of the 

103 United States who have lived in this commonwealth for 

104 not less than six months prior to the date of making ap- 

105 plication for a license. 

106 31. "Nonresident" shall include all persons not coming 

107 within the definition of resident as set forth in this act. 

108 32. "Alien" includes all unnaturalized foreign-born 

109 persons. 

110 33. "Commission" is synonymous with commission on 

111 fisheries and game or commissioners on fish and game 

112 34. "Persons" includes an individual or copartnership, 

113 joint stock company or corporation. 

114 35. "Officer" includes commissioners and their deputies, 

115 wardens, deputy sheriffs, constables and members of the 

116 district police. 

117 36. Gender and number shall be disregarded in con- 

118 struing this act whenever it is necessary to carry out the 

119 spirit thereof. 

120 37. "Application of section": in all cases where 

121 possession, purchase or sale of fish, birds or game, or of 

122 the flesh, skin or plumage, or any part thereof, of any 

123 quadruped, bird or fish is unlawful, possession, purchase 

124 or sale of the same species of fish or game, or of the flesh, 

125 skin or plumage of the same species of quadruped, bird or 

126 fish coming from or taken without the state, shall be 

127 deemed to be and is, except as is otherwise expressly pro- 

128 vided herein, unlawful. 

129 38. "Construction": the term of office of the present 

130 commissioners on fisheries and game, their deputies and 

131 employees, or the commission or department of fisheries 

132 and game, shall not be affected, except as is herein 

133 specifically provided. 

OWNERSHIP. 

1 Section 2. The ownership of and the title to all fish, 

2 birds and quadrupeds in the commonwealth of Massa- 

3 chusetts. not held by private ownership, legally acquired, 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 9 

4 is hereby declared to be in the commonwealth or the 
."> national government, as their interests may appear. No 

6 fish, birds, quadrupeds, shellfish or Crustacea shall be 

7 caught, taken or killed in any manner or at any time, 

8 or had in possession, unless the person so catching, taking 

9 or killing or having the same in possession shall consent 

10 that the title to such fish, birds and quadrupeds shall be 

11 and remain in the commonwealth of Massachusetts or the 

12 national government, as their interests may appear, for 

13 the purpose of regulating and controlling the use and 

14 disposition of the same after such catching, taking or 

15 killing, except that the title to such fish, birds or quad- 

16 rupeds legally taken shall vest in the person so taking or 

17 possessing the same, subject to the restrictions and pro- 

18 visions of law. 

taking; limit; possession; sale and transportation of 
fish, birds, game and shellfish. 

1 Section 3. No person shall at any time of the year 

2 pursue, take, wound or kill, in any manner, number or 

3 quantity, any fish, shellfish, birds or quadrupeds, or buy 

4 or sell the same, or any part thereof, or have the same in 

5 possession, except as is permitted by this act. 

FISH, BIRDS AND GAME LEGALLY TAKEN OR KILLED OUTSIDE 
THE COMMONWEALTH. 

1 Section 4. Any resident of the commonwealth may 

2 apply to the fish and game commission for a permit to 

3 bring into the commonwealth for consumption as food 

4 only, the same having been legally taken or killed outside 

5 of the commonwealth, any species of fish, game and birds, 

6 during the close season therefor hereinafter provided, in 

7 such numbers as the commission shall deem consistent 

8 with a proper protection of each species in this common- 

9 wealth, and the commissioners may grant such permits 

10 upon such further conditions and for such terms as they 

11 may deem expedient, and they may at any time suspend 

12 or revoke a permit so granted. 



10 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



transportation: general; within the commonwealth; or 
out of the commonwealth. 

1 Section 5. (a) No common carrier, or employee 

2 thereof while engaged in the business of a common carrier, 

3 shall transport wild game or fish, or any part thereof, as 

4 owner. The reception or possession of game or fish pro- 

5 tected by law, or any part thereof, for shipment, by the 

6 carrier or his employee, while engaged in the business of 

7 such common carrier, unaccompanied by the owner there- 

8 of, in a package not marked as herein provided, shall 

9 constitute a violation of this section by such common 

10 carrier or employee. 

11 (b) A person accompanying the same may transport 

12 within. the commonwealth during the open season there- 

13 for, and without tagging, such wild birds, game, fish, the 

14 sale of which is prohibited by law, which he may have 

15 lawfully taken during the open season therefor. If such 

16 birds, game, fish or shellfish be placed in the custody of a 

17 common carrier or transported in a package containing 

18 the same, such packages shall have affixed thereto a tag 

19 plainly marked with the kind and number of such birdsj 

20 game or fish, and in the case of shellfish, the amount, 

21 names of the consignor and the consignee, the initial point 

22 of billing and the destination. 

23 (c) Wild game or fish protected by law, if taken by a 

24 nonresident, may be transported by him from a point 

25 within the state to a point out of the state, provided that 

26 the same shall be accompanied by the actual owner 

27 thereof and that the said owner shall have first notified 

28 the commission, in writing, of his intention so to do, and 

29 no more of any kind of such wild birds, game, fish or 

30 shellfish shall be transported than the owner thereof may 

31 lawfully take during an open season as hereinafter pro- 

32 vided. If such birds, game, fish or shellfish be placed in 

33 the custody of a common carrier or transported in a 

34 package containing the same, there shall be affixed there- 

35 to a tag plainly marked with the kind and number of 

36 such birds, game or fish, and, in the case of shellfish, the 

37 amount, the name of the consignor and the consignee, the 

38 initial point of billing and the destination. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 11 

IMPORTATION OF BIRDS OR GAME. 

1 Section 6. Birds or game legally imported from any 

2 other state, or from without the United States, or raised 

3 in private preserves as provided in this act, when duly 

4 marked and tagged, may be transported out of the state 

5 unaccompanied by the owner thereof in any number and 

6 quantity. 

IMPORTATION AND TRANSPORTATION OF BIRDS- FISH AND 
GAME LAWFULLY SALABLE. 

1 Section 7. Importation and transportation by any 

2 means and in any number during the open season therefor 

3 of wild birds, game, fish or shellfish, if lawfully taken in 

4 another state or country, the sale of which is permitted 

5 by this act, shall be lawful except as is otherwise ex- 

6 pressly provided herein. 

transportation: special. 

1 Section 8. Game and fish for propagation purposes, 

2 the head, hide, feet or fur of quadrupeds and the plumage 

3 or skin of game birds legally taken and possessed may be 

4 transported, provided that the package, box, crate or 

5 other receptacle containing the same is marked as specified 

6 in section five of this act. 

SALE. 

1 Section 9. It shall be unlawful, except as hereinafter 

2 provided, to buy, sell, barter, exchange, or in any manner 

3 deal in or trade with respect to, the dead or living bodies, 

4 or any part thereof, of wild birds or game quadrupeds, 

5 except hares or rabbits, protected by law in any part of 

6 the United States, whenever and wherever taken or killed. 

PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. 

1 Section 10. Possession of quadrupeds, birds or fish, 

2 or any part thereof, during the time when the taking of 

3 the same in this commonwealth is prohibited, or after the 

4 time when the possession of the same after the close of 

5 the open season for the taking thereof is permitted, shall 

6 be presumptive evidence that the same were unlawfully 

7 taken by the possessor. 



12 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO FISH, BIRDS, GAME AND 

SHELLFISH 

(a) Drought. 

1 Section 11. 1. Whenever, during an open season for 

2 the hunting of any kind of game in this commonwealth, it 

3 shall appear to the governor that, by reason of drought, 

4 the use of firearms in forests is liable to cause forest fires. 

5 he may by proclamation suspend such open season and 

6 make it a close season for such time as he may designate. 

7 He may in his discretion except localities not affected by 

8 drought: provided, that if during the period of such sus- 

9 pension it appears to the governor that the necessity 

10 therefor has ceased to exist, he may by proclamation, 

11 published as provided in paragraph three of this sub- 

12 division, re-open the season so closed, except that, in case 

13 the period so closed includes the open season for hunting 

14 deer, such deer hunting season shall not be so re-opened, 

15 but shall be fixed by proclamation in accordance with the 

16 provisions of paragraph four of this subdivision. 

17 2. During the time which shall by such proclamation 

18 be made a close season, all provisions of law covering and 

19 relating to the close season shall be in force, and a person 

20 violating a provision of the same shall be subject to the 

21 penalties therein prescribed. A person who, during the 

22 close season fixed by proclamation of the governor, as 

23 provided in the preceding paragraph, shoots a wild animal 

24 or bird for the hunting of which there is no close season 

25 otherwise provided by law, shall be fined one hundred 

26 dollars and costs. 

27 3. Such proclamation shall be published in such news- 

28 papers of the state and posted in such places and in such 

29 manner as the governor may order in writing. A copy of 

30 such proclamation and order shall be filed with the secre- 

31 tary of the state; and a like copy shall be furnished to 

32 the commission on fish and game, which shall attend to 

33 the publication and posting thereof. The expense of such 

34 posting shall be paid by said commission and allowed by 

35 the auditor of accounts. 

36 4. In case the governor shall, by proclamation issued 

37 under the provisions of this section, make a close season, 

38 he shall by proclamation, issued and published as provided 

39 in paragraph one of this subdivision, fix some period of an 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 13 

40 equal number of days in the same year as an open season 

41 for the hunting of birds and game for which an open 

42 season is provided, and during such open season so fixed 

43 all persons shall have the same right to hunt as during a 

44 regular hunting season therefor. 

(b) Lord's Dot/: Close Season. 

45 The Lord's day shall be close season. Whoever hunts 

46 or destroys birds, wild animals or game of any kind on 

47 the Lord's Day shall be liable to a penalty of not less than 

48 ten nor more than twenty dollars in addition to any 

49 penalties for taking, killing or having in possession birds, 

50 wild animals or game protected by law. 

(c) Pulling down Stone Walls and Fences. 

51 It shall be unlawful for any person to wilfully pull 

52 down, injure or destroy a stone wall or fence. 

(d) Ownership of Game Artificially Propagated. 

53 Game artificially propagated and maintained upon land 

54 of the owner, which has been duly posted, shall be the 

55 exclusive property of the person propagating or maintain- 

56 ing it: provided such person has complied with the pro- 

57 visions of this act. 

(e) Great Ponds. 

58 The fishery of a pond the area of which is more than 

59 twenty acres shall be public, except as hereinafter pro- 

60 vided in this act; and all persons shall, for the purpose of 

61 fishing, be allowed reasonable means of access thereto. 

(/) Measurement of Ponds. 

62 1. The county commissioners shall in July, upon the re- 

63 quest and at the expense of any persons who claim to be 

64 interested in a great pond, cause a measurement thereof 

65 to be made which shall be recorded in the office of the 

66 town clerk of each town within which such pond is 

67 situated; and no arm or branch shall be included as a 

68 part of a pond unless it is at least fifty feet in width and 

69 one foot in depth. 



14 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

70 2. The selectmen of a town may measure ponds which 

71 are wholly within their town in the manner provided in 

72 the preceding section, and such measurement shall be 

73 recorded in the office of the town clerk. 

(g) Rights of Riparian Proprietors of Ponds. 

74 The riparian proprietors of any pond the area of which 

75 is not more than twenty acres, and the proprietors of any 

76 pond or parts of a pond created by artificial flowing, shall 

77 have exclusive control of the fisheries therein. 

(h) Private Ownership of Ponds bounded in Part by Public 

Lands. 

78 A pond which is not more than twenty acres in area and 

79 is bounded in part b}^ land belonging to a town or county 

80 shall become the exclusive property of the individual 

81 proprietors as to the fisheries therein only upon payment 

82 to the town treasurer, county commissioners or treasurer 

83 and receiver-general of a just compensation for their re- 

84 spective rights therein, to be determined by three persons, 

85 one of whom shall be a riparian proprietor of said pond, 

86 one the chairman of the board of selectmen, if the rights 

87 of a town are in question, or of the county commissioners, 

88 if the rights of a county or of the commonwealth are in 

89 question, and one to be appointed by the commission on 

90 fisheries and game. 

(i) Rights of Riparian Proprietors on Streams. 

91 1. A riparian proprietor of an unnavigable stream may, 

92 within the limits of his premises, enclose the waters 

93 thereof for the cultivation of useful fish if he furnishes and 

94 maintains at all times a suitable passage for migratory 

95 fish naturally frequenting such waters: provided, however, 

96 that a person intending to build and maintain a fish 

97 hatchery shall notify in writing the commission of the 

98 intention so to do. The commission shall then investi- 

99 gate the premises upon which said hatchery is to be built 

100 and maintained, and, if satisfied that such hatchery is not 

101 likely to impair the rights of other owners on the stream, 

102 may issue to said person a permit to construct and main- 

103 tain said hatchery. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 15 

104 2. The riparian proprietor on an unnavigable stream, 

105 enclosed or unenclosed, in which fish are lawfully culti- 

106 vated or maintained shall have control of the fishery 

107 thereof within his own premises and opposite thereto to 

108 the middle of the stream, and a riparian proprietor at the 

109 mouth of such stream shall also have control of the fishing 

110 thereof beyond and around the mouth of the stream so 

111 far as the tide ebbs, if it does not ebb more than eighty 

112 rods. 

(j) Definition of Navigable Stream. 

113 No tidal stream shall be considered navigable above the 

114 point where on the average throughout the year it has 

115 a channel less than forty feet wide and four feet deep 

116 during the three hours nearest the hour of high tide. 

(k) Governor can fix Bounds of Streams. 

117 The governor, with the advice and consent of the 

118 council, may, for the purposes of this act, arbitrarily fix 

119 and define the tidal bounds and mouths of streams upon 

120 the recommendation of the commission on fisheries and 

121 game. 

(I) Governor can limit Fishing. 

122 The governor may, in like manner, limit or prohibit, 

123 for not more than five years at any one time, fishing in 

124 the navigable tidal waters and in the unnavigable waters 

125 of specified streams, except in such portions as may be 

126 enclosed according to provisions of subdivision i. 

(m) Duti/ of Superintendents, Clerics and Others. 

127 Every superintendent, clerk or other person who lias 

128 charge of a market, provision store or other place in 

129 which fish, birds, game or shellfish are sold, and who has 

130 reasonable cause to believe that any fish, bird, game or 

131 shellfish taken in violation of law has or may be offered 

132 for sale on such premises, shall immediately give in- 

133 formation thereof to the commission, its deputies, con- 

134 stable, trial justice or town warden, if any, in the city or 

135 town in which said premises are situated. 



16 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



PUBLIC LAND AND WATERS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC ONLY TO BE 

STOCKED. 

1 Section 12. No person or association shall be pro- 

2 vided by the commonwealth with fish, game or birds to 

3 stock waters or land owned or leased by him or them or 

4 under his or their control unless he or they first agree in 

5 writing with the commissioners on fisheries and game that 

6 such waters and land so stocked shall be free for the 

7 public to fish in and hunt on during the season in which 

8 the taking of fish ; game and birds is permitted by law. 

VIOLATIONS. 

1 Section 13. A person doing anything prohibited or 

2 neglecting to do anything required by this act shall be 

3 deemed to have violated this act ; or one who counsels, aids 

4 or assists, directly or indirectly, in a violation of a pro- 

5 vision of this act, or knowingly shares in any of the 

6 proceeds of said violation, shall be deemed to have 

7 violated this act. 

PENALTIES. 

1 Section 14. A person who violates a provision of this 

2 act, or of a rule or regulation of the commission, is guilty 

3 of a misdemeanor, and, in addition thereto, except as 

4 otherwise specifically provided herein, shall be fined as 

5 follows: fifty dollars and not more than five dollars addi- 

6 tional for each fish, bird, quadruped, or part thereof, or 

7 lot of shellfish, bought, sold, offered for sale, taken, 

8 possessed, transported or had in possession for sale or 

9 transportation in violation thereof. 

DISPOSITION OF FINES RECOVERED UNDER THIS ACT. 

1 Section 15. All fines, penalties and forfeitures re- 

2 covered in prosecutions under this act shall be equally 

3 divided between the county in which such prosecution is 

4 made and the commonwealth. That portion of such 

5 moneys payable to the commonwealth, and any other 

6 sums accruing under this act, not otherwise disposed of, 

7 shall be paid into the treasury of the commonwealth for 

8 the use of the commission on fisheries and game. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 17 



Part II. — Licenses; Hunting and Fishing. 

Section 16. Licenses. 

Section 17. Application; Certificate of Registration. 

Section IS. Aliens; Fees. 

Section 19. Nonresidents; Fees. 

Section 20. Residents; Fees. 

Section 21. Town Clerks; Fees. 

Section 22. Minors; Consent of Parent or Guardian. 

Section 23. Lost Licenses. 

Section 24. Town Clerks; Duties. 

Section 25. Transportation of Game; Nonresident. 

Section 20. Penalties. 

Section 27. Application of Fees and Fines. 



LICENSES. 

1 Section 16. It shall be unlawful for any person to 

2 hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird or quadruped, or to 

3 fish except as hereinafter provided in any of the inland 

4 waters of the commonwealth, without having first ob- 

5 tained a certificate of registration as hereinafter provided: 

6 provided, however, that nothing in this act shall be con- 

7 strued as affecting in any way the provisions of the 

8 general laws relating to trespass or as authorizing the 

9 hunting, pursuing, taking, wounding or killing or pos- 

10 session of birds or quadrupeds contrary to law now, nor 

11 shall the possession of the said certificate of registration 

12 grant or confer any privilege not enjoyed prior to the 

13 passage of this act. But this act shall not prohibit any 

14 person who is a legal resident of Massachusetts from 

15 hunting on land owned or leased by him, or from fishing 

16 in any inland waters bordered by such land, provided 

17 that he is actually domiciled on such land, and that the 

18 land is used exclusively for agricultural purposes and 

19 not for club, shooting or fishing purposes. 

application; certificate of registration. 

1 Section 17. The clerk of any city or town shall, upon 

2 the application of any person entitled to receive a certifi- 

3 cate of registration under any of the classes hereinafter 

4 described, and upon payment of the registration fee here- 
") inafter described, and the furnishing of an affidavit by 

6 any nonresident who desires to be classified under clauses 

7 one, two and three of section four ol this act, register and 

8 issue to such person a certificate in the form prescribed 

9 and upon a blank furnished by the commission on fish 



IS FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

10 and game, which certificate shall bear the name, age, 

11 occupation, place of residence, and signature and identify- 

12 ing description of the person thus registered, and shall 

13 authorize the person so registered to hunt birds and 

14 quadrupeds and to fish, subject to such conditions as are 

15 provided by law. Said certificate shall be valid only to 

16 January first next following the date of issue and no 

17 longer, shall not be transferable and shall be produced for 

18 examination upon demand of any person. Failure or 

19 refusal to produce said certificate upon such demand of 

20 any person shall be prima facie evidence of the violation 

21 of this act. 

ALIENS; FEES. 

1 Section 18. Every unnaturalized, foreign-born person 

2 shall pay for such registration a fee of fifteen dollars and 

3 twenty-five cents to the clerk of the city or town in which 

4 he resides and from whom he procures his certificate, 

5 excepting that any unnaturalized, foreign-born person 

6 actually residing in the commonwealth, and owning real 

7 estate situated therein which is assessed for taxation at 

8 not less than five hundred dollars, and such unnatural- 

9 ized, foreign-born persons desiring a license to fish only, 
10 shall pay a fee of one dollar and twenty-five cents. 

nonresidents; fees. 

1 Section 19. Every citizen of the United States, not a 

2 legal resident of the commonwealth, and not having been 

3 actually domiciled therein for a period of six months, 

4 shall pay for said registration a fee of ten dollars and 

5 twenty-five cents to the clerk of the city or town from 

6 whom he procures his certificate, except such persons as 

7 desire a license to fish only, and such as come within one 

8 of the three following classes, in which case the applicant 

9 shall pay for his registration the sum of one dollar and 

10 twenty-five cents to the clerk of the city or town from 

11 whom he procures his certificate, and further, except such 

12 residents of states according similar privileges to residents 

13 of this commonwealth shall pay a registration fee of two 

14 dollars and twenty-five cents. 

15 1. The resident of another state who owns real estate 

16 situated in this commonwealth which is assessed for 

17 taxation at not less than five hundred dollars. The pro- 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 19 

18 visions of this section shall apply to the minor child or 

19 children of any such resident of another state. 

20 2. A nonresident member of any association incor- 

21 porated prior to the year nineteen hundred and seven for 

22 the purpose of hunting or fishing upon land owned by 

23 such corporation: provided, that such corporation owns 

24 real estate in this commonwealth which is assessed for 

25 taxation at a sum equal to five hundred dollars for each 

26 member; and further provided, that the membership list 

27 of said club shall be filed with the clerk of the town or 

28 towns in which said real estate is situated. 

29 3. A nonresident who, on the written invitation of a 

30 member of any club incorporated under the laws of Mas- 

31 sachusetts, attends the meeting of . such club for the 

32 purpose of hunting foxes only, during the period not ex- 

33 ceeding six days, provided, that the membership list of 

34 the club shall be filed with the clerk of the town in which 

35 the hunt takes place. 

residents; fees. 

1 Section 20. Every citizen of the United States who is 

2 a legal resident of this commonwealth shall pay for such 

3 registration the fee of one dollar and twenty-five cents to 

4 the clerk of the city or town from whom he procures his 

5 certificate. 

town clerks; fees. 

1 Section 21. Out of the fee paid in any and all of the 

2 foregoing classes, the sum of twenty-five cents shall be 

3 retained by the clerk of the city or town in which the 

4 registration is recorded. 

minors; consent of parent or guardian. 

1 Section 22. Minors under sixteen years of age, upon 

2 making application for registration, shall furnish the 

3 consent of their parents or guardian in writing, and such 

4 written consent shall be filed with the records of the 

5 application, except that women and minors under the 

6 age of seventeen years shall not be required to take out 

7 a license to fish. 



20 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



LOST LICENSES. 

1 Section 23. Whoever loses, or by a mistake or acci- 

2 dent destroys his certificate of registration may, upon 

3 application to the commission on fish and game, accom- 

4 panied by an affidavit fully setting forth the circumstances 

5 of the loss, receive without charge a duplicate certificate 

6 for the remainder of the year covered by the original 

7 certificate. 

town clerks; duties. 

1 Section 24. Every city and town clerk shall record 

2 all such registrations in books kept for that purpose, one 

3 coupon of which shall be retained by each city and town 

4 clerk as his record, which books shall be supplied by the 

5 commission, and shall remain the property of the common- 

6 wealth, and shall be open to public inspection during the 

7 usual office hours of such clerk, and subject to audit and 

8 inspection by the commission on fisheries and game, by 

9 the state auditor, or by their agents, at all times; and 

10 said clerk shall, on the fiist Monday of every month, pay 

11 to the commission on fisheries and game all moneys re- 

12 ceived by him for the said registrations, except the 

13 recording fee, together with a receipted bill for fees due 

14 and received in accordance with section six of this act 

15 issued during the month preceding. All remittances shall 

16 be made by certified check, United States post office 

17 money order, express money order or lawful money of the 

18 United States; and every city and town clerk shall, within 

19 thirty days succeeding January first of each year, return 

20 to the commission on fish and game all such registration 

21 books, including all stubs and unused and void certifi- 

22 cates. The commissioners on fisheries and game shall, in 

23 accordance with the provisions of section fifty-sis of 

24 chapter six of the Revised Laws, pay to the treasurer and 

25 receiver-general all money received by them for the said 

26 registrations issued during the previous month, and shall 

27 furnish him with a list of the number and kind of regis- 

28 trations recorded by each city and town clerk during the 

29 previous month. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. ' 21 



TRANSPORTATION OF GAME; NONRESIDENT. 

1 Section 25. A nonresident hunting and fishing license 

2 shall entitle the licensee to carry from the commonwealth 

3 and into any other state according similar privileges not 

4 more than ten birds of all kinds, the exportation of which 

5 is prohibited by law, and ten pounds of brook trout in any 

6 one calendar year: provided, that the licensee shall carry 

7 them open to view for inspection, shall present his cer- 

8 tificate for inspection upon demand, and shall have in- 

9 formed by letter or otherwise the commission on fisheries 
10 and game, or the deputy in whose district the said non- 
11 resident is hunting or fishing, as to the number and 

12 kinds of birds and fish which he intends to carry from the 

13 eommomvealth. 

penalties. 

1 Section 26. Any person who makes a false repre- 

2 sentation as to birthplace, requirements of identification, 

3 or of facts relative to property qualifications, or naturali- 

4 zation, or otherwise violates any provision of this act, or 

5 is in any wise directly or indirectly a party to such 

6 violation, shall be fined not less than ten nor more than 

7 fifty dollars, or be imprisoned for not more than thirty 

8 days, or may be punished by both such fine and im- 

9 prisonment. The certificate of any person who shall be 

10 convicted of a violation of any of the fish and game laws 

11 or of any provision of this act shall be void, and his 

12 certificate shall immediately be surrendered to the officer 

13 who secures such conviction, and the officer shall forth- 

14 with forward the certificate to the commission on fisheries 

15 and game, who shall cancel the same and notify the clerk 

16 issuing the certificate of the cancellation of the certificate, 

17 and no person shall be entitled to receive a certificate 

18 during the period of one year from the date of con- 

19 viction. Any certificate issued to any person within one 

20 year after conviction under this act or under any other 

21 provision of the fish and game laws shall be void, and 

22 shall be surrendered on demand of any officer authorized 

23 to enforce the game laws, and if so issued, or if issued 

24 subsequently to the time at which the violation was com- 

25 mitted ; shall be invalid, and the fee therefor shall not be 

26 returned. 



22 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



APPLICATION OF FEES AND FINES. 

1 Section 27. The fees and fines received under the 

2 provisions of this act shall be paid monthly by the secre- 

3 tary of the commission on fisheries and game or by the 

4 person collecting the same into the treasury of the com- 

5 monwealth, and shall be used by the commission for 

6 propagating, distributing and protecting fish and game, 

7 without specific appropriation by the general court, in 

8 addition to all sums already or hereafter appropriated 

9 by the general court for the same purpose. 



Part III. — Quadrupeds. 

Section 28. Moose; Elk; Caribou and Antelope. 

Section 29. Wild Deer; Open Season; Limit; Manner of Taking; Transportation; 

Use of Dogs. 

Section 30. Right of Citizens to kill Deer damaging Crops. 

Section 31. Payment for Damage by Deer. 

Section 32. Gray Squirrels; Open Season; limit. 

Section 33. Hares and Rabbits; Taking; Open Season; Limit; Sale. 

Section 34. Fur-bearing Animals; Open Season; Method of Taking; Sale. 

Section 35. Wildcat or Bobcat; Canada Lynx or Loupcervier; Bounty. 



Section 36. 

Section 37. Penalties. 

moose; elk; caribou and antelope. 

1 Section 28. There shall be no open season for moose, 

2 elk. caribou and antelope; but they may be brought into 

3 the commonwealth and possessed as hereinafter provided. 

wild deer; open season; limit; manner of taking; sale; 
transportation; use of dogs. 

1 Section 29. (a) Wild deer may be hunted, pursued, 

2 taken, captured or killed from the third Monday in 

3 November to the following Saturday, after five in the 

4 morning and before five in the afternoon. 

5 (b) A person may take one wild deer in an open season. 

6 Whoever wounds or kills a deer under the provisions of 

7 this section shall, except as hereinafter provided, within 

8 twenty-four hours report in writing to the commission on 

9 fish and game the facts relative to the wounding or 

10 killing. 

11 (c) Wild deer may be taken or killed only by the use of 

12 a shotgun. Such deer shall not be hunted at any time 

13 by a dog or bitch. During the open season for deer it 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 23 

14 shall be unlawful to hunt, wound or kill a bird or quad- 

15 ruped with a rifle, revolver or pistol, or in pursuit of 

16 birds and quadrupeds to have in possession in any wood 

17 or field, or in any highway, a rifle, revolver or pistol. 

18 (d) Such deer shall not be bought or sold at any time 

19 or had in possession, except during said open season, and 

20 for the fifteen days immediately thereafter, for the purpose 

21 of consumption only. 

Transportation. 

22 (e) Unless specifically authorized by the commission, wild 

23 deer taken by residents of this commonwealth shall not 

24 be transported by a person or common carrier, except 

25 that the carcass or parts thereof of one deer lawfully 

26 killed may, when open to view, tagged and plainly 

27 labelled with* the name of the owner thereof, and accom- 

28 panied by him, be transported during the open season 

29 and for ten days thereafter; and the possession of a deer 

30 or any part thereof by a person or common carrier, other- 

31 wise than as herein prescribed, shall be presumptive 

32 evidence that such person or common carrier is guilty of 

33 a violation of the provisions of this section. A non- 
34 resident may transport through and out of the state in a 

35 single open season one wild deer legally taken therein. 

36 The provisions of this section shall not apply to the head, 

37 feet or hide of a deer when severed from the body. 



Use of Dogs Illegal. 

38 (/) Any of the commissioners or deputies, wardens, or 

39 any member of the district police, or any officer qualified 

40 to serve criminal process may kill a dog found chasing or 

41 hunting deer at any time if the dog is used for such 

42 purposes with the knowledge and consent of his owner or 

43 keeper, and the owner or keeper of the dog shall be 

44 punished by a fine of fifty dollars. If a dog has twice 

45 been found chasing or hunting deer, and if the owner or 

46 keeper of the dog has been so notified on each occasion 

47 by the commissioners or any of the above named officers, 

48 it shall be a presumption of law, if the same dog is there- 

49 after found chasing or hunting deer, that such chasing or 

50 hunting was with the knowledge and consent of the said 

51 owner or keeper unless the contrary is shown by evidence. 



24 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



RIGHT OF CITIZENS TO KILL DEER DAMAGING CROPS. 

1 Section 30. A person may on land owned or occupied 

2 by him or, with the consent of the owner, upon lands 

3 adjacent thereto, pursue, wound or kill deer which he has 

4 reasonable cause to believe has damaged or is about to 

5 damage crops, fruit or ornamental trees, except grass 

6 growing on uncultivated land; and he may authorize a 

7 member of his family or a person employed by him to 

8 pursue, wound or kill a deer, under the circumstances 

9 above specified. The person by whom or under whose 

10 direction a deer is wounded or killed shall within six hours 

11 report in writing, signed by him, all the facts relative 

12 to such wounding or killing to the commissioners on 

13 fisheries and game. Such report shall state the time and 

14 place of the wounding or killing and the kind of tree or 

15 crop injured or destroyed or about to be injured or de- 

16 stroyed by the deer. 

PAYMENT FOR DAMAGE BY DEER. 

1 Section 31. A person who suffers loss of or damage to 

2 crops, fruit or ornamental trees by deer may, within 

3 three days after the discovery of such damage, notify in 

4 writing the commission or the deputy in the district 

5 wherein such damage was done or loss suffered. Said 

6 deputy shall proceed to the premises where such damage 

7 was done or loss suffered, and determine whether the same 

8 was caused by deer on land that has not been posted 

9 against the hunting of deer, and if he does so determine 

10 the deputy shall report to the commissioners on fish and 

11 game. Said commissioners shall thereupon apply to the 

12 department of agriculture, which department shall desig- 

13 nate a representative to act in conjunction with the 

14 deputy in appraising under oath the amount of such 

15 damage. The said deputy and said representative shall 

16 return a certificate of the amount of such appraisal, except 

17 in the county of Suffolk, to the treasurer of the county 

18 in which the damage was done or loss suffered, within 

19 ten days after such appraisal is made. The treasurer shall 

20 thereupon submit the same to the county commissioners, 

21 who within thirty days shall examine all such bills, and, 

22 if any doubt exists, may summon the appraisers and all 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 25 

23 parties interested and make such examination as they 

24 may think proper; and shall transmit such hills, properly 

25 approved, to the auditor of accounts, and they, together 

26 with the cost of appraisal, shall be paid out of the treas- 

27 ury of the commonwealth in the same manner as other 

28 claims against the commonwealth. In the county of 

29 Suffolk the certificate of damages shall be returned to the 

30 treasurer of the city or town in which the damage is done, 

31 who shall exercise and perform the rights and duties 

32 hereby conferred and imposed upon the county com- 

33 missioners in other counties. 

Fees. 

34 The appraiser, other than said deputy, shall receive 

35 from the commonwealth two dollars for every such exami- 

36 nation made by him, and shall receive twenty cents a 

37 mile, one way, for his necessary travel. 

GRAY SQUIRRELS; OPEN SEASON; LIMIT. 

1 Section 32. (a) Gray' squirrels may be taken for food 

2 and possessed from October twelve to November twelve. 

3 (6) A person may take not more than five such squirrels 

4 in one day and may take not more than fifteen such 

5 squirrels during the open season. 

HARES AND RABBITS; OPEN SEASON; LIMIT; SALE; TAKING; 
DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. 

Open Season. 

1 Section 33. (a) Hares and rabbits may be taken and 

2 possessed from October twelve to January thirty-one. 

Limit. 

3 (b) A person may take not more than two hares or ten 

4 rabbits in one day, except where said hares and rabbits 

5 are found doing damage as hereinbefore provided for. 

Sale. 

6 (c) Hares and rabbits, except such as are taken under 

7 sub-division (c) of this section, may be bought or sold or 
S had in possession at any time: provided, that they are not 
9 taken or killed contrary to the laws of this commonwealth 

10 or of any other state or country. 



26 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



Taking. 

11 (d) It shall be unlawful at any time to remove or attempt 

12 to remove a hare or rabbit from any hole in the ground or 

13 from any stone wall or from under any ledge or stone 

14 or log or tree, and it shall be unlawful to take or kill a 

15 hare or rabbit by a trap, snare or net, or to use a ferret. 

16 The possession of a ferret in a place where hares or rabbits 

17 might be taken or killed shall be prima facie evidence that 

18 the person having the ferret in possession has used it for 

19 taking and killing hares or rabbits contrary to law. 

20 Ferrets used in violation hereof shall be confiscated. 

Damage to Property. 

21 (e) This act shall not be construed to prohibit farmers 

22 and fruit growers from trapping hares and rabbits in box 

23 traps at any time during the year: provided, that such trap- 
2-L ping is done on the land owned or leased by the person 

25 setting the trap and such is used for the raising of fruit, 

26 vegetables or other products by the person so trapping, 

27 who shall first have made an affidavit before a justice of 

28 the peace that hares or rabbits have injured fruit, vege- 

29 tables or other products on his said premises, and shall 

30 have forwarded the affidavit so made to the commission, 

31 and that the commission has issued to him a permit so to 

32 trap. It shall be unlawful to barter or sell hares or 

33 rabbits trapped in accordance with the provisions of this 

34 section. 

FUR-BEARIXG ANIMALS; OPEN SEASON; METHOD OF TAKING; 

SALE. 

1 Section 34. (a) Marten, mink, raccoon, fisher-cat, 

2 muskrat, skunk and otter may be taken and possessed 

3 from December one to March fifteen. Said fur-bearing 

4 animals may be taken at any time during the day or 

5 night. 

6 (&) No person shall at any time destroy a muskrat 

7 house, or place a trap therein, thereon or at the entrance 

8 thereto. 

9 (c) The owner of land, or lessee thereof, may at any 

10 time, take or kill any fur-bearing animals found doing 

11 damage to property. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 27 



Method of Taking. 

12 (c/) A person who traps fur-bearing animals shall visit 

13 his traps at least once in every twenty-four hours. A 

14 person so trapping shall not use scent, so called, or 

15 scented bait, except on his own premises or on the 

16 premises of another from whom he has obtained consent 

17 so to do. No person shall trap upon lands other than his 

18 own without having obtained the consent of the owner or 

19 lessee of said land in writing. No person shall at any 

20 time set or use any spring or set gun or other device the 

21 object of which is to discharge a firearm for the purpose 

22 of taking a fur-bearing or other animal. 

Sale. 

23 (e) The furs or skins of fur-bearing animals legally taken 

24 may be bought or sold at any time. 

25 The foregoing subdivisions (a), (6) and (d) shall not 

26 apply to fur-bearing animals artificially propagated and 

27 under control of the owner. 

WILDCAT OR BOBCAT; CANADA LYNX OR LOUPCERVIER; BOUNTY. 

1 Section 35. Whoever in any town kills a wildcat or 

2 bobcat, Canada lynx or loupcervier not being in captivity 

3 shall, upon producing satisfactory evidence of such killing, 

4 be entitled to receive from the treasurer of the town the 

5 sum of five dollars; and all sums so paid out shall be re- 

6 paid to the town treasurer by the treasurer of the county 

7 in which the town is situated: provided, that a sworn 

8 statement thereof shall be transmitted by the town 

9 treasurer to the county treasurer. 

QUADRUPEDS NOT PROTECTED BY LAW. 

1 Section 36. Seals, weasels, foxes, red squirrels, chip- 

2 munks, woodchucks, moles, rats, shrews and mice may 

3 be taken and possessed and sold at any time. 

penalties. 

1 Section 37. A person who violates the prohibition 

2 against setting a spring gun or other device the object of 

3 which is to discharge a firearm shall be fined not more 



28 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

4 than five hundred dollars nor less than fifty dollars, and 

5 shall also be liable for twice the amount of the damage 

6 caused by his act, to be recovered by the person sustaining 

7 the injury or loss in an action on this section. 



Part IV. — Birds. 

Section 38. Quail; Open Season; Limit. 

Section 39. Ruffed Grouse (Partridge) ; Open Season; Limit. 

Section 40. Woodcock; Open Season; Limit. 

Section 41. Pheasants. 

Section 42. Plover; Wilson Snipe; Shore Birds; Open Season; Limit. 

Section 43. Rails; Coots, commonly called Mud Hens, and Gallinules; Open Season. 

Section 44. Anatidac; Open Season; Limit; Manner of Taking. 

Section 45. Possession during Close Season. 

Section 40. Homing Pigeons. 

Section 47. Injurious Birds. 

Section 48. English Sparrows and Starlings to be killed. 

Section 49. Destroying or robbing Nests and Eggs. 

Section 50. Bodies or Feathers of Certain Birds. 

Section 51. Nets, Snares, Traps, Baiting and Bird Lime. 



quail; open season; limit. 

1 Section 38. (a) Quail may be taken and possessed 

2 from October twelve to November twelve. 

3 (6) A person may take not more than six quail in one 

4 day or not more than thirty-six quail in one open season. 

RUFFED GROUSE (PARTRIDGE); OPEN SEASON; LIMIT. 

1 Section 39. (a) Ruffed grouse, commonly called par- 

2 tridge, may be taken and possessed from October twelve 

3 to November twelve. 

4 (b) A person may take not more than three ruffed 

5 grouse in one day or not more than fifteen ruffed grouse 

6 in one open season. 

woodcock; open season; limit. 

1 Section 40. (a) Woodcock may be taken and pos- 

2 sessed from October twelve to November twelve. 

3 (b) A person may take not more trj.an four woodcock 

4 in one day and not more than twenty in one open season. 

PHEASANTS. 

1 Section 41. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may declare an open season on pheasants in such counties 

3 or parts thereof in the commonwealth as appear advisable, 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 29 

4 and may make such rules and regulations relating to bag 

5 limit, time and length of open season, and all other 

6 matters connected with said open season which said com- 

7 mission may from time to time deem necessary. 

plover; wilson snipe; shore birds; open season; limit. 

1 Section 42. Greater and lesser yellow legs, black 

2 breasted and golden plover, and Wilson snipe (commonly 

3 called jacksnipe) may be taken and possessed from August 

4 fifteen to November thirty. 

rails; coots, commonly called mud hens, and gallinules; 
open season. 

1 Section 43. Rails, coots, commonly called mud hens, 

2 and gallinules may be taken and possessed from August 

3 fifteen to November thirty. 

ANATID.E; OPEN SEASON; LIMIT; MANNER OF TAKING. 

1 Section 44. (a) Anatidse, except swan and wood duck, 

2 may be taken from October one to December thirty-one. 

3 (b) A person may take during the open season not more 

4 than fifteen black ducks in any one day. 

5 (c) Water fowl may be taken during the open season in 

6 any manner other than by means of a swivel or pivot gun, 

7 or by the use of a torch, jack or artificial light, or by a 

8 net, snare, hook or any similar mechanical device, or by 

9 the aid or use of any boat or floating device propelled by 

10 steam, naphtha, gasolene, electricity, compressed air, or 

11 any similar motive power, or by any mechanical means 

12 other than sails, oars or paddles, and except as further 

13 hereinafter provided. But the provisions of this chapter 

14 shall not apply to persons shooting at or killing said 

15 birds from such boats or floating devices, if the same are at 

16 anchor; but it shall be unlawful to pursue, drive, shoot at, 

17 capture or kill any birds upon or over any fresh water pond 

18 from any boat, raft, or other device floating or otherwise. 

POSSESSION DURING CLOSE SEASON. 

1 Section 45. Birds for consumption only may be 

2 possessed during the ten days immediately following the 

3 open season therefor: provided, that said birds shall not 

4 be placed in any cold storage or freezing plant. 



30 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



HOMING PIGEONS. 

1 Section 46. It shall be unlawful for any person, not 

2 being the rightful owner, to catch, detain, shoot or kill, 

3 injure, or in any way interfere with a homing or carrier 

4 pigeon or to remove any identification mark, band or 

5 other thing from such a pigeon. 

BIRDS NOT PROTECTED BY LAW. 

1 Section 47. It shall be lawful to take or kill at any 

2 time English sparrows, European starlings, crow black- 

3 birds, crows, jays and the following named birds of prey: 

4 sharp-shinned hawk, cooper's hawk, goshawk, red-tailed 

5 hawk, red-shouldered hawk, duck hawk, pigeon hawk, 

6 barred owl, great horned owl and snowy owl, and in 

7 Dukes and Nantucket counties the marsh hawk. 

ENGLISH SPARROWS AND STARLINGS TO BE KILLED. 

1 Section 48. The officers having charge of buildings in 

2 cities and such officers as the selectmen designate and 

3 appoint in towns shall take and enforce such reasonable 

4 means and use such methods and appliances as may in 

5 writing be indicated and approved by the commission on 

6 fisheries and game, to effectively exterminate the English 

7 sparrow and starling in such city or town. 

destroying or robbing nests and eggs. 

1 Section 49. Nests and eggs of wild birds, other than 

2 the birds mentioned in section forty-six, shall not be 

3 robbed or wilfully troubled, disturbed or destroyed except 

4 when necessary to protect buildings or prevent their de- 

5 facement, or when taken under the authority of the com- 

6 mission. 

bodies or feathers of certain birds. 

1 Section 50. It shall be unlawful to have in possession 

2 the body or feathers or any part thereof of a bird the 

3 taking, killing or possession of which is prohibited by law, 

4 whether taken in this commonwealth or elsewhere, or to 

5 wear such plumage for the purpose of dress or ornament. 

6 But the provisions of this section shall not prohibit the 

7 taking or killing of such birds by persons duly authorized 

8 by the commission so to do. 



191V5.1 HOUSE — No. 18G. 31 



NETS, SNARES, TRAPS, BAITING AND BIRD LIME. 

1 Section 51. No wild bird or bird for which a close 

2 season is provided, except those mentioned in section 

3 forty-six, shall be taken by the use or aid of nets, snares, 

4 traps, baiting, bird lime or similar substances or devices, 

5 or, if so taken, possessed. The placing of any such device 
. 6 or substance in localities where such birds can be taken 

7 shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this section. 

8 Any such nets, snare, trap or similar device or baiting or 

9 bird lime is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and 

10 may be summarily abated or destroyed by any person; 

11 and it shall be the duty of every officer to seize and 

12 destroy such device. 

Part V. — Fish. 

Section 52. Trout; Open Season; Size Limit; Catch Limit; Unlawful Fishing in Waters 

inhabited by Trout. 

Section 53. Black Bass; Open Season; Size Limit; Catch Limit. 

Section 54. White Perch; Open Season; Size Limit; Catch Limit. 

Section 55. Pike Perch; Open Season; Size Limit; Catch Limit; Sale. 

Section 56. Pickerel; Size Limit; Open Season; Catch Limit; Through the Ice; Sale. 

Section 57. Shiners. 

Section 58. Suckers. 

Section 59. Frogs. 

Section 60. Fish; General; Taking. 

Section 61. Fish; Sale; Transportation. 

Section 62. Introduction of Fish into State Waters. 

Section 63. Brook Fishing regulated. 

Section 64. Explosives prohibited. 

Section 65. Obstructing Streams prohibited. 

Section 66. Placing Poisons in Waters prohibited. 

Section 67. Pollution. 

Section 68. Penalties. 

troct; open season; size limit; catch limit; unlawful 
fishing in waters inhabited by trout. 

1 Section 52. (a) Brook trout, brown trout, not less 

2 than six inches in length, and other species of trout, and 

3 salmon not less than twelve inches in length may be 

4 taken and possessed from the first day of April to the 

5 thirty-first day of July in any year, except as hereinafter 

6 provided. 

7 (6) A person may take by angling only, between one 

8 hour before sunrise and two hours after sunset, a total of 

9 not more than five pounds of trout of any cr all species 

10 except lake trout in one day, and a total of not more 

11 than fifteen pounds of salmon and lake trout in the same 



32 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

12 hours in one day: provided, however, it shall not be re- 

13 garded as a violation of the law should one individual 

14 fish caught of either of the classes mentioned above weigh 

15 more than five or fifteen pounds respectively, or should 

16 the last fish caught increase the combined weight of the 

17 fish of either class to more than five or fifteen pounds 

18 respectively. Wherever two or more are angling from 

19 the same boat they may take jointly not more than eight 

20 pounds of trout and twenty-five pounds of salmon. 

BLACK BASS; OPEN SEASON; SIZE LIMIT; CATCH LIMIT. 

1 Section 53. (a) Black bass not less than ten inches 

2 in length may be taken and possessed from June twenty 

3 to March thirty-one following. 

4 (b) A person may take by angling only, between one 

5 hour before sunrise and two hours after sunset, a total of 

6 not more than ten pounds of black bass in one day, unless 

7 the last fish caught increases the combined weight thereof 

8 to more than ten pounds. 

white perch; open season; size limit; catch limit. 

1 Section 54. (a) White perch not less than seven 

2 inches in length may be taken and possessed from May 

3 twenty to January thirty-one. 

4 (b) A person may take by angling only, between one 

5 hour before sunrise and two hours after sunset, a total 

6 of not more than ten pounds of white perch in one day, 

7 unless the last fish caught increases the combined weight 

8 of the fish to more than ten pounds. 

pike pebch; open season; size limit; catch limit; sale. 

1 Section 55. (a) Pike perch, commonly called wall- 

2 eyed, blue pike and saugers, not less than twelve inches 

3 in length, may be taken and possessed from May twenty 

4 to January thirty-one. 

5 (b) A person may take by angling only, between one 

6 hour before sunrise and two hours after sunset, a total of 

7 not more than fifteen pounds of pike perch during the 

8 same hours in any one day, unless the last fish caught 

9 increases the combined weight thereof to more than 
10 fifteen pounds. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 33 

11 (c) Such pike perch may be bought and sold during the 

12 open season therefor. 

13 (d) No corporation, association or person shall be in 

14 possession in this commonwealth of any pike perch caught 

15 in that part of Lake Champlain or its tributaries known 

16 as Missisquoi bay, lying and being in the Province of 

17 Quebec, or in the Richelieu river, which is the outlet of 

18 said lake, between February one and May thirty-one. 

pickerel; size limit; open season; catch limit; through 

the ice; sale. 

1 Section 56. (a) Pickerel not less than ten inches in 

2 length may be taken and possessed from May one to the 

3 last day of February. 

4 (b) A person may take by angling only, between one 

5 hour before sunrise and two hours after sunset, a total of 

6 not more than fifteen pounds of pickerel in one day, unless 

7 the weight of the last fish caught increases the combined 

8 weight to more than fifteen pounds. 

9 (c) Pickerel not less than ten inches in length may be 

10 taken through the ice with hook and line, tip-ups or bobs; 

11 but no person shall operate or control at the s?me time 

12 more than ten lines, tip-ups or bobs, and such person 

13 shall at all times be present in person and have personal 

14 control over the same. 

15 (d) Such pickerel may be bought and sold during the 

16 open season therefor. 

SHINERS. 

1 Section 57. It shall be lawful to take shiners for bait 

2 in any of the waters of the commonwealth by means of 

3 a circular or hoop net not exceeding six feet in diameter, 

4 or by means of a rectangular net or a seine, containing 

5 not more than thirty-six square feet of net surface: 

6 provided, that all fish of other species arc immediately re- 

7 turned alive and uninjured to the water. 

BUCKEKS. 

1 Section 58. That species of fish commonly known as 

2 "suckers" may be speared at any time. 



34 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



FROGS. 

1 Section 59. Frogs may be hunted, pursued, taken or 

2 killed at any time from July one to October thirty-one. 

3 Not more than fifteen pounds may be taken in any one 

4 day by a person. 

fish; general; taking. 
1 1 Section 60. It shall be lawful to take all species of 

2 fish at any time by angling except those species on which 

3 a close season is provided in this act, and in no other 

4 manner whatever, except as otherwise provided by law. 

FISH; SALE; TRANSPORTATION. 

1 Section 61. During the close season therefor any 

2 person may buy, possess and sell pickerel and pike perch, 

3 except as otherwise provided, legally taken without the 

4 state, and at all times shall permit the commissioners or 

5 their deputies and wardens to make a full examination 

6 of the books and papers relating to the purchase and sale 

7 of fish, and when required by the commission or its 

8 deputies and wardens shall furnish the original invoice or 

9 invoices, freight or express receipts used in the trans- 
10 portation thereof. 

INTRODUCTION OF FISH INTO STATE WATERS. 

1 Section 62. It shall be unlawful to put in any of the 

2 public waters or in any waters connecting therewith any 

3 species of fish, or the roe, spawn or fry thereof, without 

4 having first secured the written approval of the com- 

5 mission on fisheries and game. 

6 Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be 

7 punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars. 

BROOK FISHING REGULATED. 

1 Section 63. If the owner of land within which a brook 

2 is wholly or partly situated agrees that such brook or 

3 part thereof shall be open to the public after the expira- 

4 tion of three years as hereinafter provided, the com- 

5 missioners may, upon petition of thirty or more inhabit- 

6 ants of a city or town within which such brook is wholly 



a 

tu- 



rns.] HOUSE — No. 186. 35 

7 or partly situated, including such owner, or upon petition 

8 of the mayor and aldermen of such city or the selectmen 

9 of such town and such owner, cause such brook to be 

10 stocked with food fish; and shall then make reasonable 

11 regulations, which shall be in force for a period of not 

12 more than three years, relative to fishing in such brook, 

13 may affix penalties of not more than twenty dollars for 

14 each violation thereof and shall cause such regulations to 

15 be enforced. 

EXPLOSIVES PROHIBITED. 

1 Section 64. Fish shall not be taken by means of ex- 

2 plosives. Except for mining or mechanical purposes, 

3 dynamite or other explosives shall not be used in the 

4 waters of this state, or possessed upon the waters, shores 

5 or islands thereof. Possession of explosives by a person 

6 on the waters, shore or islands of this commonwealth, 

7 except for mining or mechanical purposes, shall be 
S violation of the provisions of this section: provided, ho 
9 ever, that the provisions of this act shall not apply to 

10 operations of the federal government, of the state govern- 

11 ment or of any municipal government in this common- 

12 wealth, nor to the use of explosives for raising the body 

13 of a drowned person. 

OBSTRUCTING STREAMS PROHIBITED. 

1 Section 65. Except as authorized by the commis- 

2 sioners, no person shall construct, erect or maintain a 

3 rack, screen, weir or other obstruction in a creek, or the 

4 outlet or inlet to a natural pond, or the outlet or inlet to 

5 an artificial pond on a public stream which may prevent 

6 the passage of fish. 

PLACING POISONS IN WATERS PROHIBITED. 

1 Section 66. Xo person shall place or attempt to place 

2 in any of the waters of this state lime, creosote, cocculus 

3 indicus or other drug or poison destructive to fish, except 

4 as hereinafter provided. 

POLLUTION. 

1 Section 67. If the commission on fisheries and game 

2 determine that the fisheries of any brook, stream or public 

3 waters in this commonwealth may be of sufficient value 



36 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

4 to warrant the prohibition or regulation of the discharge 

5 or escape of sawdust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, 

6 sewage, dyestuff and other materials from any particular 

7 sawmill, manufacturing or mechanical plant or dwelling 

8 house, stable or other building, which may directly or 

9 indirectly materially injure such fisheries, they may by 

10 an order in writing to the owner or tenant of such saw- 

11 mill, manufacturing or mechanical plant, dwelling house, 

12 stable or other building prohibit or regulate the discharge 

13 or escape of sawdust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, 

14 sewage, dyestuff and other material therefrom into such 

15 brooks, streams or public waters. Such order may be 

16 revoked or modified by them at any time. Before any 

17 such order is made said commission shall, after reasonable 

18 notice to all parties in interest, give a public hearing in 

19 the county where the sawmill, manufacturing or me- 

20 chanical plant, dwelling house, stable or other building to 

21 be affected by the order is located, at which hearing any 

22 citizen shall have the right to be heard on the questions 

23 to be determined by the commissioners. Upon petition 

24 of the party aggrieved by such order, filed within six 

25 months after the date thereof, the superior court sitting 

26 in equity may, after such notice as it may deem sufficient, 

27 hear all interested parties and annul, alter or affirm the 

28 order. If such petition is filed by the party aggrieved 

29 by said order within ten days after the date thereof, said 

30 order shall not take effect until altered or affirmed as 

31 aforesaid. Whoever having so been notified discharges 

32 sawdust, shavings, garbage, ashes, acids, sewage, dye- 

33 stuffs and other material, or suffers or permits it to be 

34 discharged or to escape from said plant under his control 

35 into a brook or stream in violation of the order of said 

36 commissioners, or of said court, if an appeal is taken, 

37 shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred 

38 dollars. 

PENALTIES. 

1 Section 68. A person who violates the provisions of 

2 sections sixty-two, sixty-four, sixty-five and sixty-six of 

3 this part is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not 

4 more than five hundred dollars nor less than fifty dollars, 

5 or be imprisoned for not more than ninety days, or both. 



1915.1 



HOUSE — No. 186. 



37 



Part VI. — Marine Fisheries. 



Section- 


69. 


Section 


70. 


Section 


71. 


Section 


72. 


Section 


73. 


Section 


71. 


Section 


75. 


Section 


76. 


Section 


77. 


Section 


78. 


Section 


79. 


Section 


80. 


Section- 


81. 


Section 


82. 


Section 


83. 


Section 


84. 


Section 


85. 


Section 


86. 


Section 


87. 


Section 


88. 


Section 


89. 


Section 


90. 


Section 


91. 


Section 


92. 


Section- 


93. 


Section 


94. 


Section 


95. 


Section 


96. 


Section 


97. 


Section 


98. 


Section- 


99. 


Section 


100. 


Section 


101. 


Section 


102. 


Section 


103. 


Section 


104. 


Section 


105. 


Section 


106. 


Section 


107. 


Section 


108. 


Section 


109. 


Section- 


110. 


Section 


111. 



Section 112. 



Section 113. 
Section 114. 
Section 115. 
Section 116. 



A. Fish. 
River Fish; Open Season. 
Manner of Taking. 
Unlawful Use of Food Fish. 
Smelts; Open Season; Manner of Taking. 
Smelts; Evidence. 
Penalty. 

Obstruction to River Fish. 
River Fisheries. 
Fishing Rights; Licenses. 
Eels; Open Season. 
Eels; Manner of Taking. 
Eel Fisheries. 

B. Mollusks. 

Commission to have Jurisdiction over Mollusk Fisheries. 

Modification or Suspension of Regulations. 

Licenses. 

Boundaries of Grants to be marked. 

Reports by Licensees. 

Classes of Licenses. 

Condition of granting Licenses. 

Applications for Licenses. 

Restrictions on Transfer. 

Fees. 

Application; Notice; Hearings. 

Taking for Personal Use. 

License Numbers to be displayed. 

Time of Taking. 

Penalties. 

Arrest without Warrant. 

Forfeiture of Licenses. 

Polluted Areas excluded. 

Scallops; Open Season; Sale. 

Scallops; Manner of Taking; Limit. 

Scallops; Penalties. 

C. Crustacea. 
License required. 

Licenses must be exhibited. 
Marks and Buoys on Traps. 
Interference with Traps prohibited. 
Commission may appoint Special Deputies. 
License forfeited on Conviction. 
Lobsters not to be used for Bait. 
Lobsters; Legal Length. 
Lobsters; Multilation. 
Lobsters; Sale. 

1. Lobster Meat. 

2. Transportation. 

3. Confiscation. 

4. Lobster Meat; Permit to remove from the Shell. 
Lobsters; Transportation. 

1. Tagging. 

2. Disposition of Lobsters seized. 
Detail of District Police. 
Crustacea, General. 

Starfish. 
Egg Lobsters. 

1. Taking prohibited. 

2. Evidence. 

3. Purchase for Propagation. 



38 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan 



A. Fish, 
river fish; open season. 

1 Section 69. It shall be lawful to take river fish on 

2 Monday, "Wednesday and Thursday of each week. 

MANNER OF TAKING. 

1 Section 70. River fish may be taken at any time by 

2 angling, and in such other manner and at such times as 

3 may be hereinafter determined and permitted. 

UNLAWFUL USE OF FOOD FISH. 

1 Section 71. It shall be unlawful for any person to 

2 engage in taking fish other than dog fish or other species 

3 of sharks, skates, rays, menhaden, goose and toad fish 

4 and sea robins for the purpose of rendering the same into 

5 oil or fertilizer, and any person taking food fish for such 

6 purpose shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable 

7 by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars for each 

8 offence. 

smelts; open season; manner of taking; sale. 

1 Section 72. Smelt may be taken by angling between 

2 the first day of June and the last day of February. Smelt 

3 may be sold and possessed during the open season. 

evidence. 

1 Section 73. Possession of any net, seine, trap or 

2 device for catching fish other than by angling, if adapted 

3 to the purpose of catching smelts and apparently intended 

4 for that purpose, or the possession of fresh smelts, after 

5 sunset, or under other suspicious circumstances, in or upon 

6 said harbors; rivers or tributaries, or on the banks of the 

7 same, shall be deemed prima facie evidence of a violation 

8 of the provisions of the preceding sections by the person 

9 in whose possession such apparatus or fish is found, and 

10 the burden of proof shall be upon the defendant to show 

11 that said apparatus was not in his possession for illegal 

12 purposes and that such smelt were legally caught. 



1915.1 HOUSE — Xo. 186. 39 



PENALTY. 

1 Section 74. Whoever violates the provisions of the 

2 preceding sections relating to smelt shall be fined ten 

3 dollars and one dollar additional for each smelt illegally 

4 taken. 

OBSTRUCTION TO RIVER FISH. 

1 Section 75. It shall be unlawful for any person, 

2 except in the manner herein provided, to obstruct, delay 

3 or in any manner disturb said river fish. 



RIVER FISHERIES. 

1 Section 76. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 shall designate from time to time streams which are 

3 suitable for the maintenance of river fisheries, and may 

4 make such rules and regulations relating to close seasons, 

5 manner of taking and to obstructions as to said com- 

6 mission shall appear advisable from time to time. 

FISHING RIGHTS; LICENSES. 

1 Section 77. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may establish and define fishing rights in such streams as 

3 it shall designate as river fish streams, and may issue 

4 licenses to inhabitants of the commonwealth, or cor- 

5 porations organized under the laws of said commonwealth, 

6 to exercise such rights under rules and regulations es- 

7 tablished bv the commission. 



EELS; OPEN SEASON. 

1 Section 78. Eels may be taken at any time. 

MANNER OF TAKING. 

1 Section 79. It shall be unlawful to place any net, eel 

2 fyke or other similar device in any stream without 

3 having first obtained written permission from the com- 

4 mission on fisheries and game so to do. But nothing in 

5 this subdivision shall prevent or prohibit the setting of 

6 eel pots at any time. 



40 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



EEL FISHERIES. 

1 Section 80. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may designate certain streams and ponds as eel fisheries, 

3 and may grant licenses to any citizen to take eels from 

4 such fisheries under such rules and regulations as said 

5 commission deem advisable. 

B. Mollusks. 

COMMISSION TO HAVE JURISDICTION OVER MOLLUSK FISHERIES. 

1 Section 81. The commission on fisheries and game is 

2 hereby authorized to conduct an accurate survey of all 

3 mollusk territory below mean low water mark, and to 

4 lease such territory for the cultivation of food and bait 

5 mollusks as hereinafter provided. Said commission may 

6 appoint such deputies or other agents or assistants as 

7 they shall deem necessary for making the said survey and 

8 for the detection and prosecution of any violation of the 

9 laws of the commonwealth relating to the mollusk fisheries, 

10 and may make and enforce all necessary regulations and 

11 procedure for the enforcement of these laws. 

MODIFICATION OR SUSPENSION OF REGULATIONS. 

1 Section 82. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 shall have power, at such times as the mollusk fisheries 

3 are threatened with great injury or loss from climate or 

4 other conditions, to declare an open season, or suspend or 

5 modify the provisions of the act relating to said mollusk 

6 fisheries, in order that such mollusks so threatened or 

7 exposed may be returned to deep water or removed be- 

8 yond the jdanger zone or utilized as food. 

LICENSES. 

1 Section 83. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may, by writing under its hand, grant a license conveying 

3 to the licensee named therein all the public rights in the 

4 mollusk fishery in the territory described in the license, 

5 for a term not exceeding twenty years, to any inhabitants 

6 of the commonwealth, to plant, grow, take and dig 

7 mollusks at all times of the year, or to plant shells and 

8 other devices for the purpose of catching mollusk seed, 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 41 

9 upon and in any territory as hereinafter specified and 

10 described, below mean low water mark, upon such terms 

11 and conditions as they may deem proper, not, however, 

12 materially obstructing navigable waters. By agreement 

13 with riparian owners the land and water between mean 

14 high and low water marks may be leased in a similar 

15 manner for the same purposes. 

BOUNDARIES OF GRANTS TO BE MARKED. 

1 Section 84. All territory for which a license has been 

2 granted as aforesaid shall be designated by suitable 

3 bounds, consisting of both stakes and buoys, one each at 

4 each of the several corners of every grant, so that its 

5 precise situation may be evident at high and low tide, 

6 and these bounds shall be maintained by the licensee 

7 under penalty of forfeiture of the license within seven 

8 days after his failure to maintain the proper stakes and 

9 buoys. The commission on fisheries and game shall keep 

10 at their office a record of each license, describing by metes 

11 and bounds the waters, flats and creeks so appropriated, 

12 With a map of its location, and these records shall be 

13 open at any time to public inspection. 

REPORTS BY LICENSEES. 

1 Section 85. Every licensee shall be required to submit 

2 to the commission on fisheries and game, or to a duly 

3 authorized inspector or inspectors appointed by it, an 

4 annual report of the total number of bushels of mollusks 

5 produced upon the territory covered by his license, to- 

6 gether with the value received for the same, and an 

7 estimate of the total number of bushels of specified 

8 mollusks produced upon the territory covered by his 

9 license, together with the value received for the same, and 

10 an estimate of the total number of bushels of specified 

11 mollusks at that time growing upon the said territory. 

12 This statement shall be duly sworn to before a justice of 

13 the peace; and if the total sum shall fall below fifty 

14 bushels per acre, or if an inspector appointed by the 

15 commission on fisheries and game after due examination 

16 shall find that the sum has fallen below fifty bushels per 

17 acre for two consecutive years, unless such condition has 



42 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

18 been brought about by natural causes, then the license 

19 shall be declared forfeited and the grant revert to the 

20 commonwealth. 

CLASSES OF LICENSES. 

1 Section 86. The available territory for the growth 

2 and planting of mollusks shall be divided into two classes: 

3 the shallow waters near shore, including the flats, creeks, 

4 inlets and bays, which shall be allotted to the smaller 

5 planters; and the deep or more exposed waters which 

6 may be leased to individual planters, partnerships or cor- 

7 porations, who shall give suitable guarantee of sufficient 

8 capital to develop the same. Not more than one half 

9 of the whole territory of the first class in any town shall 

10 be granted and the remaining half, unless voted to the 

11 contrary by the voters of that town in regular town 

12 meeting, shall be retained as a public fishery. Due regard 

13 for the public fisheries shall be given by the commission 

14 on fisheries and game in granting these licenses. 

CONDITION OF GRANTING LICENSES.. 

1 Section 87. Any citizen of a coast town shall have 

2 the first right to any license for the territory within the 

3 boundaries of that township over any other inhabitant of 

4 the commonwealth who is not a citizen of that town, and 

5 at all times and under all conditions the commissioners 

6 shall give due consideration to secure to every worthy 

7 citizen a just opportunity to participate in and to benefit 

8 from these fishing privileges. Any citizen of the com- 

9 monwealth may have the right to receive a license under 

10 this act in any coast town where suitable territory re- 

11 mains after the citizens of the town have obtained the 

12 licenses for which they have petitioned. Preference in the 

13 allotment of new licenses shall be given to the holders of 

14 oyster, clam and quahaug grants as held under the 

15 present laws. After the system shall have been es- 

16 tablished every grant shall be leased according to priority 

17 of petition for the same. Any vacant territory shall be 

18 regularly advertised by the commission on fisheries and 

19 game, and residents of a town may at any time file an 

20 application with the commission, stating their ability 

21 and what they desire of the mollusk territory, which 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 43 

22 shall be allotted to them whenever there is vacant 

23 ground. These licenses shall only he granted to and held 

24 by citizens of Massachusetts, firms composed of Massa- 

25 chusetts citizens and Massachusetts corporations domiciled 

26 within this commonwealth. 



APPLICATIONS FOR LICENSES. 

1 Section 88. Any citizen, firm or corporation, qualified 

2 as aforesaid, desiring to obtain a license as provided 

3 above, shall present to the commission on fisheries and 

4 game a written application, setting forth the name and 

5 address of the applicant, a reasonably definite description 

6 of the desired territory, and shall petition that the ap- 

7 plication be registered, that the territory be surveyed, 

8 that a plan or map be made, and that a license be 

9 granted to the applicant under the provisions of this act. 

RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFER. 

1 Section S9. All licenses shall be for the use and 

2 profit of the licensee alone and shall be absolutely non- 

3 transferable by sale, sub-lease, transfer or private con- 

4 tract of any nature whatever; and if any licensee at- 

5 tempts such procedure the license shall thereupon be 

6 declared void and forfeited. It shall nevertheless be 

7 lawful for any licensee to hire labor or assistance for the 

8 working of his grants: provided, that such labor shall in 

9 no wise impair his title or ownership of the grant or cause 

10 it to pass from his control. Two years after the death of 

11 a licensee the grant shall revert to the commonwealth, 

12 unless the widow or children or legal heirs of the licensee 

13 continue to plant and grow mollusks. In such cases due 

14 allowance and compensation shall be made for all im- 

15 provements, which shall be added to the charges paid by 

16 the subsequent licensee. Three years before the ex- 

17 piration of any license the licensee shall be informed 
IS whether or not he is entitled to a renewal. At the 

19 expiration of a license the previous licensee shall be given 

20 the preference of renewal. 



44 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



FEES. 

1 Section 90. Any person holding a license under the 

2 provisions of this act shall pay an annual fee of not less 

3 than one and not more than ten dollars per acre, the 

4 exact amount to be ascertained and fixed annually accord- 

5 ing to a just and equable valuation by the commission 

6 on fisheries and game or by their duly appointed agents, 

7 under penalty of forfeiture of the license if the rental is 

8 not paid within six months after it becomes due. The 

9 money received from the annual fees shall be expended as 

10 far as necessary for the maintenance, protection and 

11 surveying of the grants, and the remainder shall be paid 

12 into the state treasury. The mollusks sold from any 

13 grant and equipment connected therewith shall be subject 

14 to taxation by the towns in the same way as other 

15 taxable property. 

applications; notice; hearings. 

1 Section 91. The said commission shall give notice of 

2 every application for a license by publication twice a 

3 week for three successive weeks in some daily newspaper 

4 published in the city of Boston, and also once a week for 

5 three successive weeks in one or more newspapers pub- 

6 lished in the county in which the land applied for is 

7 located, describing the territory and giving the name and 

8 residence of the applicant and the day, hour and place 

9 at which the commission will give a public hearing on the 

10 application, the last publication to be at least one day 

11 before said hearing. The license shall not be granted 

12 until after a public hearing as aforesaid in the city or 

13 town where the land is situated, due notice of which 

14 shall be posted in three or more public places in that city 

15 or town at least seven days before the time of said hear- 

16 ing. The commission may adjourn the hearing from 

17 time to time, and may issue process to compel the at- 

18 tendance of witnesses for either party, and shall give 

19 notice to all parties who have appeared before them, upon 

20 any application, of the time and place when their decision 

21 will be given, and such decision shall be final, unless 

22 appellate proceedings are taken and prosecuted as here- 

23 inafter provided. Upon petition of any person aggrieved 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 45 

24 by the decision of the commission upon any application 

25 for a license filed within one week therefrom, the superior 

26 court, sitting in equity, may, after such notice as it may 

27 deem sufficient, hear all interested parties and annul, 

28 alter or affirm the decision. 

TAKING FOR PERSONAL USE. 

1 Section 92. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may grant a permit ir writing to any person to take 

3 mollusks from the natural beds or from areas designated 

4 as unleased at such times, in such quantities, and for 

5 such uses as they shall express in their permit; but every 

6 inhabitant of the commonwealth, without such permit, 

7 may take mollusks from the public beds for the use of his 

8 family, not exceeding in any week five bushels, including 

9 shells; or any fisherman who is a naturalized citizen of 

10 this commonwealth; maj r take from such public beds 

11 mollusks needed for bait, not exceeding in any one day 

12 three bushels, including shells. 

LICENSE NUMBERS TO BE DISPLAYED. 

1 Section 93. Any person to whom is issued a license 

2 by the commission on fisheries and game shall have the 

3 number of this license painted in letters at least two 

4 inches high in a conspicuous place on his boats and 

5 buoys. 

TIME OF TAKING. 

1 Section 94. No person shall dig, take or carry away 

2 any mollusks or shells between one hour after sunset and 

3 one hour before sunrise, by any method whatever, from 

4 any waters, flats or creeks. 

penalties. 

1 Section 95. 1. Any person who shall wrongfully make 

2 claims to any public mollusk ground of which he has no 

3 lease or title from the state, by erecting bounds or raonu- 

4 ments thereon of any description, or otherwise claiming 

5 the title to such land, shall for the first offence pay a fine 

6 of not less than fifty dollars and not more than one 

7 hundred dollars, and for every subsequent offence pay a 

8 fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not more 

9 than two hundred dollars. 



46 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

10 2. Any person who shall wilfully injure, deface, destroy 

11 or remove such marks or bounds as may define any lease 

12 or grant, or place any mark thereon, or shall tie or fasten 

13 any boat or vessel to such stake or buoy, shall be fined 

14 twenty dollars for each offence. Every person in addition 

15 thereto shall be liable to an action of the case to pay 

16 double damages and costs to the person who shall be 

17 injured by harming the marks and bounds, stakes or 

18 buoys of the said grants injured, removed or destroyed as 

19 aforesaid. 

20 3. Whoever works a dredge, oyster tongs or rakes, or 

21 any other implement for the taking of mollusks upon any 

22 territory officially designated as licensed or in any way 

23 disturbs the growth of the planted mollusks without the 

24 consent of the licensee during the continuance of such 

25 license, or discharges any substance which may directly 

26 or indirectly injure the planted mollusks or the mollusks 

27 in the public beds, shall for the first offence be punished 

28 by a fine of not less than fifty dollars and not more than 

29 one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more 

30 than thirty days, and for each subsequent offence by a 

31 fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not more 

32 than two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not 

33 more than six months, or by both such fine and imprison- 

34 ment. 

35 4. Any person who shall wilfully break up, or shall 

36 damage or injure any bed of mollusks, or any tract of 

37 land leased from the commonwealth for a mollusk bed, 

38 or any public mollusk bed, by depositing thereon earth, 

39 stones or dredging or scoopings shall be punished by a fine 

40 not exceeding five hundred dollars and shall forfeit his 

41 boat or vessel with her tackle, apparel and furniture, and 

42 all the implements used by him in injuring such mollusk 

43 bed. 

ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT. 

1 Section 96. The commission on fisheries and game, 

2 their deputies and wardens, or any police or constable in 

3 view of the commission of any offence against the pro- 

4 visions of this chapter shall arrest the offender without 

5 warrant and detain him for prosecution for a period not 

6 exceeding twenty-four hours. 



1915.1 HOUSE — No. 186. 47 



FORFEITURE OF LICENSES. 

1 Section 97. A licensee who violates any provisions of 

2 this chapter relative to the planting and growing of 

3 mollusks or the planting of shells or who neglects or 

4 refuses to begin substantial operations within six months 

5 after date of his license shall, in addition to the penalties 

6 as provided, forfeit his license. 

POLLUTED AREAS EXCLUDED. 

1 Section 98. For the purity of all Massachusetts 

2 mollusks, no territory in polluted waters shall be granted 

3 for the growing of mollusks for market. The commission 

4 on fisheries and game shall from time to time make or 

5 cause to be made such examinations as may be necessary 

6 to ascertain the sanitary conditions of the waters over 

7 and adjacent to the mollusk -producing areas and may give 

8 written certificates of the sanitary condition. No mol- 

9 lusks shall be taken from areas which are found upon 

10 examination to be polluted beyond such standards as 

11 may from time to time be determined by the said com- 

12 mission, except that the said commission may make 

13 special rules and regulations for the legitimate use of 

14 mollusks from such polluted areas in such a manner as to 

15 safeguard the public health. 

scallops; open season; sale. 

1 Section 99. Scallops may be taken between the first 

2 day of October and the thirty-first day of March from the 

3 flats or waters of the commonwealth, and may be pos- 

4 sessed and sold during said open season, except any 

5 person at any time may take scallops by hand for food 

6 for his own personal or family use; and further except 

7 the commissioners, their agents and persons authorized 

8 by them may take and possess scallops at any time for 

9 purposes of cultivation and propagation. 

scallops; manner of taking; limit. 

1 Section 100. It shall be unlawful to take from the 

2 flats or waters of the commonwealth scallops other than 

3 adult scallops, or to sell or offer for sale scallops so taken, 



48 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

4 or to have them in possession except for the purpose of 

5 cultivation. For the purposes of this act an adult scallop 

6 shall be a scallop with a well-defined raised annual 

7 growth line. Scallops taken from the tide waters of the 

8 commonwealth shall be culled out when taken and all 

9 scallops other than adult scallops so taken shall im- 

10 mediately be returned alive to tide water which is at 

11 least three feet deep at mean low water All scallops 

12 taken in accordance with the provisions of this act shall 

13 be removed from the shell on shore. 

scallops; penalties. 

1 Section 101. Whoever violates any provision of this 

2 act shall be punished by a fine not exceeding twenty-five 

3 dollars. Possession of scallops other than adult scallops, 

4 except when held for the purpose of cultivation, shall be 

5 prima facie evidence that such scallops were taken 

6 contrary to law. 

C. Ceustacea. 

LICENSE REQUIRED. 

1 Section 102. Xo person either as principal, agent or 

2 servant shall at any time catch or take any lobsters 

3 from any of the waters within the jurisdiction of this 

4 state, or place, set, keep, maintain, supervise, lift, raise 

5 or draw in or from any of said waters, or cause to 

6 be placed, set, kept, maintained or supervised, lifted, 

7 raised or drawn in or from any of said waters, any pot, 

8 trap or other contrivance designed or adapted for the 

9 catching or taking of lobsters, unless licensed so to do, as 

10 hereinafter provided. The commission on fisheries and 

11 game shall grant licenses to catch and take lobsters from 

12 the waters within the jurisdiction of this state in the 

13 manner, at the times and subject to the regulations pro- 

14 vided in this act, to such residents of this state as have 

15 resided in this state for at least one year next preceding 

16 the granting of such license. Applications for licenses 

17 shall be made on a special form provided by the com- 

18 mission on fisheries and game. Such license shall be 

19 granted to expire on the thirty-first day of October next 

20 succeeding the granting of the same, unless sooner re- 

21 voked as hereinafter provided, and each person to whom 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 49 

22 such license shall be granted shall pay to the commission 

23 on fisheries and game the sum of one dollar for the use of 

24 the state. Said commissioners in their annual report 

25 shall state the number of licenses granted, with the names 

26 of the persons licensed and the amount of money re- 

27 ceived therefor. Said commissioners shall furnish and 

28 issue to each person licensed as aforesaid a certificate 

29 stating the name of the person to whom such license has 

30 been granted, number of same and the date of expiration 

31 of such license. 

LICENSES MUST BE EXHIBITED. 

1 Section 103. Each person licensed under the pro- 

2 visions of this act shall at all times while engaged in the 

3 pursuit so licensed exhibit upon demand of any person 

4 the certificate issued to him as provided in the preceding 

5 section. No negative allegation of any kind need be 

6 averred or proved in any prosecution brought under this 

7 act, but the respondent in any such action may show his 

8 license by way of defence. 

MARKS AND BUOYS ON TRAPS. 

1 Section 104. When pots or traps are set on trawls, 

2 when conditions make it impracticable to set otherwise, 

3 buoys plainly marked shall be set at both ends of trawls, 

4 and permission for setting such trawls must be stated on 

5 license secured from the commission on fisheries and game 

6 as hitherto provided. All pots, traps, buoys, boats or 

7 other contrivances used for the catching or taking of 

8 lobsters must be marked in a plain and conspicuous 

9 manner with the number of the license of the owner or 

10 owners thereof or the person or the persons using the 

11 same. All pots, traps or cars and the contents thereof 

12 used contrary to the provisions of this or any other 

13 section of this act shall be seized by any officer authorized 

14 in the enforcement of this act, and shall be forfeited and 

15 disposed of to the best interest of the commonwealth. 

INTERFERENCE WITH TRAPS PROHIBITED. 

1 Section 105. No person except the commission on 

2 fisheries and game and their deputies, or other officers 

3 qualified to enforce this act, shall lift or raise any pot, 



50 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

4 traps or car belonging to any person or persons licensed 

5 under this act, and set for catching, taking or holding 

6 lobsters, except with the permission of the owner or 

7 owners thereof. 

COMMISSION MAY APPOINT SPECIAL DEPUTIES. 

1 Section 106. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 shall appoint at least four deputies, whose duties shall be 

3 principally the enforcement of the provisions of this act 

4 or any other act relative to the lobster industry. Each 

5 of said deputies appointed as aforesaid shall, by virtue of 

6 his office, have all the powers of constable, except the 

7 service of civil process, and of policemen and watchmen, 

8 and as such may, without warrant, arrest any person 
[ 9 found violating any of the provisions Of this act or any 

10 other act relative to the lobster industry, and detain such 

11 person for prosecution not exceeding twenty-four hours. 

12 Said deputies shall not be required to enter into recog- 

13 nizance or become liable for costs. 

license forfeited on conviction. 

1 Section 107. The license of any person who shall be 

2 convicted of a violation of any lobster laws or of any 

3 provision of this act shall be void, and his license shall 

4 immediately be surrendered to the officer who secures 

5 such conviction, and the officer shall forthwith forward 

6 the license to the commissioners on fisheries and game, 

7 who shall cancel the same, and no person shall be entitled 

8 to receive a license during the period of one year from the 

9 date of conviction. Any license issued to a person within 

10 one year of his conviction under this act or under any 

11 other provision of the lobster laws shall be void, and 

12 shall be surrendered on demand of any officer authorized 

13 to enforce the lobster laws. 

LOBSTERS NOT TO BE USED FOR BAIT. 

1 Section 108. It shall be illegal to use lobsters for bait 

2 purposes. 

lobsters; legal length. 

1 Section 109. Lobsters less than four and one-eighth 

2 inches measured on the carapace shall not be taken, 

3 possessed or sold. It shall be the duty of the commission 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 51 

4 on fisheries and game, their deputies and wardens, and all 

5 police officers and constables to seize whenever and 

6 wherever found and to liberate all lobsters less than the 

7 said legal measurement. In cases where the number of 

8 illegal lobsters in a shipment from a point outside this 

9 commonwealth appears to be so great that the process 

10 of search is liable to injure or destroy the value of the 

11 other lobsters in the crate or package, the entire contents 

12 of the crate or package shall be immediately seized and 

13 liberated by the officer present. 

lobsters; mutilation. 

1 Section 110. It shall be unlawful, before a lobster is 

2 cooked, to mutilate the carapace in such a manner as to 

3 affect its measurement, and the possession of any lobster, 

4 cooked or uncooked, the carapace of which is not of the 

5 required length, shall be prima facie evidence to convict. 

lobsters; sale. 

1 Section 111. All lobsters or parts of lobsters imported 

2 or sold for use in this state or for export from the state 

3 shall be sold and delivered in the shell, except as here- 

4 inafter or otherwise provided. 

1. Lobster Meat. 

5 It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, ship or buy 

6 lobster meat after the same has been taken from the 

7 shell, except as is hereinafter provided. 

2. Lobster Meat; Transportation. 

8 It shall be unlawful for any person carrying on the 

9 business of a common carrier to bring into this common- 

10 wealth or to carry or transport from one place to another 

11 any lobster meat unless the same has been legally taken 

12 from the shell. 

3. Lobster Meat; Confiscation. 

13 Any lobster meat unlawfully sold, given away, shipped, 

14 bought or transported shall be liable to seizure and may 

15 be confiscated. 



52 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



4- Lobster Meat; Permits to remove from Shell. 

16 Nothing contained herein shall be held to prohibit the 

17 sale of lobsters legally canned, or of lobsters sold for food 

18 by licensed victuallers, or of lobsters removed from the 

19 shell on the premises where they are eaten. Nothing con- 

20 tained herein shall prohibit the sale of lobster meat by 

21 wholesale or retail dealers in lobsters: provided, that the 

22 meat is removed from the shell at their regular place of 

23 business where lobsters are bought and sold, and that said 

24 dealers have a written permit for such sale from the com- 

25 mission on fisheries and game, and that the lobster meat 

26 is so removed and sold under such conditions and regu- 

27 lations as the said commissioners may prescribe; and 

28 provided, further, that the premises where the meat is so 

29 removed or sold are at all times open to the inspection of 

30 the said commissioners and their deputies. 

lobsters; transportation. 
1. Tagging. 

1 Section 112. All barrels, boxes or other packages in 

2 transit containing lobsters shall be marked with the word 

3 "lobsters" in capital letters at least one inch in length, 

4 together with the full name of the shipper. Said marking 

5 shall be placed in a plain and legible manner on the out- 

6 side of such barrels, boxes or other packages; and in case 

7 of seizure by any duly authorized officer of any barrels, 

8 boxes or other packages in transit, containing lobsters, 

9 which are not so marked, or in case of seizure by any 

10 such officer of barrels, boxes or other packages in transit 

11 containing lobsters less than the prescribed length, such 

12 lobsters as are alive and less than the prescribed length 

13 shall be liberated; and all such lobsters as are of the 

14 prescribed length found in such barrels, boxes or packages 

15 shall be held and disposed of as hereinafter provided. 

2. Disposition of Lobsters Seized. 

16 When any lobsters are seized by virtue of the provisions 

17 of this act, the officer making the seizure shall im- 

18 mediately notify the shipper thereof, if known. There- 

19 after he shall forthwith proceed to enforce, in accordance 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 53 

20 with the provisions of chapter two hundred of the Re- 

21 vised Laws, the forfeiture of such lobsters, so seized, as 

22 he is not required by law to liberate. He shall cause the 

23 appraisal required by section thirteen of said chapter two 

24 hundred to be made within twenty-four hours after the 

25 time of such seizure, and after said appraisal may sell the 

26 said lobsters at such time or in such manner as he may 

27 deem proper. He shall pay the proceeds thereof into the 

28 court before which the libel for forfeiture is pending, and 

29 the court may decree a forfeiture of said proceeds or pay- 

30 ment thereof to a claimant, or any other appropriate 

31 disposition thereof. 

DETAIL OF DISTRICT POLICE. 

1 Section 113. The governor, upon the written request 

2 of the commission on fisheries and game or one of them, 

3 may detail one or more of the district police from any 

4 district or town to enforce the provisions relating to 

5 lobsters. 

CRUSTACEA, GENERAL. 

1 Section 114. All varieties of Crustacea other than 

2 lobsters may be taken at any time and in any manner. 

starfish. 

1 Section 115. Starfish and other enemies of shellfish 

2 shall be destroyed when taken, and shall not be returned 

3 alive to the waters of the commonwealth. 

egg lobsters; taking prohibited; evidence; purchase 
for propagation. 

1 Section 116. 1. It shall be unlawful to catch, take or 

2 have in possession, or sell at any time, any female lobster 

3 bearing eggs. But a person who catches or takes any 

4 such lobster and immediately returns it alive to the 

5 waters from which it was taken shall not be deemed to 

6 have violated the provisions of this subdivision. The 

7 provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to lobsters 

8 spawning in lobster cars if they are immediately returned 

9 alive to the waters from which they are taken. 

10 2. Exposure for sale or possession otherwise than as 

11 herein provided shall be prima facie evidence of an intent 

12 to sell. 



54 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

13 3. The commissioners on fisheries and game are hereby 

14 authorized and empowered to purchase, at a rate not 

15 exceeding twenty-five per cent above the market price, 
46 lobsters with eggs attached, caught along the shore of 

17 this commonwealth. Whoever catches or has in pos- 

18 session any such lobsters with eggs attached may, after 

19 receiving a permit from the commissioners on fisheries 

20 and game, safely store the same in lobster cars or sections 

21 of cars used for that purpose only, and may keep them 

22 separate from other lobsters until such time as the said 

23 commissioners or some person or persons designated by 

24 them can gather and pay for them. The commissioners 

25 and their agent shall liberate them in the vicinity of the 

26 location where they were caught; or they may at their 

27 discretion sell any portion or all of them to the officer in 

28 charge of the United States fish hatchery for artificial 

29 propagation, the proceeds to be applied to the appropria- 

30 tion made for the enforcement of this act. 

Part VII. — Seines, Weirs, Nets, Traps. 

Section 117. Size; Exception. 

Section 118. Licenses. 

Section 119. Fish Preserves. 

Section 120. When a Common Nuisance. 

Section 121. Penalties. 

Section 122. Torching. 

Section 123. License to torch. 

SIZE; EXCEPTION. 

1 Section 117. It shall be unlawful to use a seine, mesh 

2 net, gill net or other device adapted for taking fish having 

3 a mesh of less than one and three-quarters inches: pro- 

4 vided, however, that for special purposes the commission 

5 on fisheries and game may grant a license to properly, 

6 qualified persons, if satisfied that such license is required, 

7 to use a smaller mesh. 

licenses. 

1 Section 118. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may, upon application in writing, authorize any person 

3 to construct weirs, pound nets, fish traps or other station- 

4 ary devices for the taking of fish in the waters of the 

5 commonwealth for a term not exceeding five years, but 

6 no authority or license so given shall be valid unless ap- 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 55 

7 proved in writing by the board of harbor and land com- 

8 missioners. The commission shall make such rules and 

9 regulations in respect thereto, including location, con- 

10 struction, size of mesh, open and close seasons, as it shall 

11 deem necessary. Said license may be revoked by the 

12 commission at any time for failure to maintain and to 

13 properly tend said traps and other devices. 

FISH RESERVATIONS. 

1 Section 119. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may set aside such areas as in their opinion conditions 

3 require, to be known as fish reservations, and may make 

4 such rules and regulations in respect thereto as shall from 

5 time to time appear advisable. 

WHEN A COMMON NUISANCE. 

1 Section 120. All nets, weirs, seines and traps which 

2 are set or stretched in violation of the provisions of this 

3 act are declared to be a common nuisance. 

penalties. 

1 Section 121. The net, seine, trap or other device, and 

2 the vessel, boat, craft or other apparatus used in con- 

3 nection therewith in violation of law, and all fish, together 

4 with the cask, barrel or other vessel or wrapper containing 

5 the same, shall be forfeited. Any officer qualified under 

6 this act may libel said property according to law, or, at 

7 his discretion, sell the same or any part thereof at private 

8 sale or by public auction, and libel the net proceeds of 

9 such sale according to law, in the same manner and with 

10 the same effect as if such proceeds were the property 

11 itself. Whoever takes any fish from a net, seine, weir, 

12 pound net, fish trap or other device without the consent 

13 of the owner thereof, and whoever wilfully molests or 

14 interferes with such net, seine, weir, pound net, fish trap 

15 or other device shall, for the first offence, be punished by 

16 a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than twentv- 

17 five dollars, or by imprisonment for thirty days, or by 

18 both such fine and imprisonment; and for any subsequent 

19 offence by a fine of not less than twenty dollars, or more 

20 than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for sixty days, or 

21 bv both such fine and imprisonment. 



56 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



TORCHING. 

1 Section 122. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 shall designate the waters of the commonwealth wherein 

3 torching for herring and other fish may be carried on, and 

4 may make such rules and regulations in respect thereto 

5 as may appear advisable. 

LICENSE TO TORCH. 

1 Section 123. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may issue licenses to torch in such waters as it shall deem 

3 suitable, and may make such rules and regulations, in- 

4 eluding cost of licenses and open seasons, as it shall deem 

5 proper. 

Part VIII. — Fishways and Screens. 

Section 124. Construction and Maintenance. 

Section 125. Notification of Dam Owners. 

Section 126. Liability of Owners. 

Section 127. Commissioners can build Fishways. 

Section 128. Settlement of Damages. 

Section 129. Removal of Obstructions. 

Section 130. Fish not to be taken near Fishways. 

Section 131. Screens. 

CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE. 

1 Section 124. All persons, firms or corporations who 

2 own or control a dam upon a stream within the common- 

3 wealth shall in writing notify the commission of the 

4 location and height of such dam, and of any proposed 

5 alteration or repairs thereon which will affect the passage 

6 of fish over or around said dam, together with a suitable 

7 plan and specifications of such proposed alteration or 

8 repairs. All persons, firms or corporations who may here- 

9 after construct a dam upon a stream shall, at least thirty 

10 days before the construction is commenced, notify, in 

11 writing, the commission of their intention so to do, and 

12 such notice shall contain a statement of the name, length 

13 and location of the waters on which the dam is to be 

14 built, and shall be accompanied by a suitable plan and 

15 specifications of the work. The commissioners may 

16 examine all dams upon streams where the law requires 

17 fishways to be maintained, or where in their judgment 

18 fishways are needed, and they shall determine whether 

19 the fishways and the plans and specifications of any pro- 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 57 

20 posed alterations or repairs of dams already constructed, 

21 or of dams to be constructed, are suitable and sufficient 

22 for the passage of the fish in such streams, or whether, in 

23 their judgment, a fishway is needed for the passage of fish 

24 over any dam, or any dam the construction of which is 

25 proposed, and shall prescribe by an order in writing what 

26 changes or repairs, if any, shall be made therein, and 

27 where, how and the time within which a new fishway 

28 must be built, and at what times the same shall be kept 

29 open, and shall give notice to the owners or prospective 

30 owners of dams accordingly. The supreme judicial court 

31 or the superior court shall, upon the petition of the 

32 commissioners, have jurisdiction in equity or otherwise 

33 to enforce any order made in accordance with the pro- 

34 visions of this section, and to restrain any violation of 

35 such order. 

NOTIFICATION OF DAM OWNERS. 

1 Section 125. Such owners shall be notified by serving 

2 upon them a copy of the order, and an affidavit of the 

3 commissioners that service has been so made shall be 

4 deemed sufficient proof of notice. 

LIABILITY OF OWNERS. 

1 Section 126. Any owner of such dam who refuses or 

2 neglects to alter or repair, keep open or maintain a fish- 

3 way at the times prescribed by the commisson shall 

4 forfeit fifty dollars for each day or part of a day during 

5 which such refusal or neglect shall continue. 

COMMISSION CAN BUILD FISHWAVS. 

1 Section 127. If, in the opinion of th"e commissioners, 

2 a passage for edible fish should be provided, or if there is 

3 no fishway or an insufficient fishway in or around a dam 

4 where a fishway is required by law to be maintained, and 

5 when the owner of such dam has been duly notified as 

6 herein provided, any one of the commissioners may, in 

7 his discretion, enter with workmen and materials upon 

8 the premises of the person required to maintain a fishway, 

9 and may, at the expense of the commonwealth, if, in the 

10 opinion of the commissioners, the person required by law 

11 to construct or maintain such fishway is not financially 



58 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

12 able to afford such expense, or, being able, refuses to 

13 construct and maintain such fishway, improve an existing 

14 fishway, or cause one to be constructed if none exists; 

15 and may, if necessary, take sufficient land of any other 

16 person who is not obliged by law to maintain said fish- 

17 way as may be necessary to properly construct the same. 

SETTLEMENT OF DAMAGES. 

1 Section 128. All damages which are caused by taking 

2 land as provided in the preceding section shall, upon the 

3 application of either party, be estimated in the same 

4 manner as land which has been taken for highways, and 

5 shall be paid for by the commonwealth. Said expense 

6 shall be a charge against the person who is required by 

7 law to construct and maintain such fishway, and shall be 

8 recovered in an action of contract in the name of the 

9 commonwealth, with costs and with interest at the rate 

10 of twelve per cent per annum, except in the case where 

1 1 failure to comply with this provision is due to the financial 

12 inability of the owner of such dam to construct and 

13 maintain said fishway. 

REMOVAL OF OBSTRUCTIONS. 

1 Section 129. The commissioners and their deputies 

2 may seize and remove, summarily if need be, all illegal 

3 obstructions to the passage of migratory fish except dams, 

4 mills or machinery, at the expense of the persons using, 

5 placing directly or indirectly, or permitting same to be 

6 placed; and may forbid the construction, dumping or 

7 placing of any material which may tend to obstruct the 

8 passage of fish, or the flow of water, or injure or obstruct 

9 the right of any private or public fisheries. 

FISH NOT TO BE TAKEN NEAR FISHWAYS. 

1 Section 130. Fish shall not be taken within two 

2 hundred yards of any fishway except as provided in this 

3 act, and trespassing within the limits of any such fishways 

4 is hereby prohibited. Fish may be taken beyond two 

5 hundred and within four hundred yards of any such fish- 

6 way by angling only, unless otherwise provided. 



1915.1 HOUSE — No. 186. 59 



SCREENS. 

1 Section 131. All persons, firms or corporations using 

2 public waters for purposes of power, irrigation or any 

3 other purpose shall erect, build, locate and maintain 

4 screens at the entrance and outlet of such canals, sluice- 

5 ways, flumes, ditches or other devices for conducting 

6 water from the public supply as may be designated by 

7 the commissioners on fisheries and game as in their 

8 opinion adapted for the purpose. 



Part IX. — Preserves. Establishment of State Bird 
and Game Reservations and the Protection and 
Propagation of Wild Birds and Quadrupeds. 

Section 132. Authority to acquire. 

Section 133. Manner of Taking. 

Section 134. Commission may improve and restock. 

Section 135. Destruction of Undesirable Quadrupeds and Birds. 

Section 136. Rules and Regulations; Publications; Posting. 

Section 137. Taking of Birds and Quadrupeds prohibited. 

Section 138. Evidence of Violation. 

Section 139. Penalties. 

Section 140. State Reservations to be Refuges. 

Section 141. Permission to hunt thereon. 

Section 142. Who shall enforce Law of State Reservations. 

AUTHORITY TO ACQUIRE. 

1 Section 132. For the purpose of protecting any 

2 species of useful wild birds or quadrupeds and for aiding 

3 the propagation thereof, the commission on fisheries and 

4 game may acquire in fee by purchase, gift or devise, or 

5 may lease, or, with the consent of the owners, may control 

6 any land, water or shore or the right to use the same, in- 

7 eluding the right of the public in such land or on such 

8 water or shore, as a bird and game preserve. 

manner of taking. 

1 Section 133. For the purpose aforesaid the said 

2 commission, upon a petition filed with them by the mayor 
:; and aldermen of a city or the selectmen of a town, or by 
4 one or more owners of land, water or shore, if satisfied of 
o the suitable character and situation of the same, may, 

6 with the consent of the owners, order a close season 

7 thereon for one or more periods not exceeding five years 



60 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

8 each, on such wild birds and quadrupeds as to said com- 

9 mission appear advisable: provided, that in respect to all 

10 petitions filed by the mayor or aldermen of a city or the 

11 selectmen of a town, it shall not be necessary to obtain 

12 the consent of all owners or lessees of land included in 

13 such area or any part thereof specified in such petition; 

14 and further provided, said commission shall have the right 

15 to open said areas, so closed by it, or any portion thereof, 

16 at any time after notice published as hereinafter provided 

17 for the closing thereof. But before making any order 

18 under such petition, the commission shall give a public 

19 hearing upon the matter at some place in or near the 

20 territory under consideration, of which meeting and of its 

21 intention in the matter notice shall be given by publica- 

22 tion once a week for two successive weeks in one or more 

23 newspapers published in the county or counties embracing 

24 the territory, the last publication to be at least seven 

25 days prior to the time fixed for the hearing. 

COMMISSION MAY IMPROVE AND RESTOCK. 

1 Section 134. In respect to any territory acquired or 

2 controlled as above provided, or any territory upon which 

3 a close season has been ordered as above provided, the 

4 said commission may make such use of the land, water or 

5 shore within the territory as it may deem best for the 

6 purpose of improving the feeding and nesting environ- 

7 ment of birds or game, and may from time to time make 

8 such rules and regulations relating to such territory as 

9 may seem to it proper; and such rules and regulations, 

10 when approved by the governor and council, shall have 

11 the force of laws. The said commission is authorized to 

12 liberate birds and game within the limits of the said 

13 reservations, and, when in its opinion such action is ad- 

14 visable, to co-operate with landowners within such terri- 

15 tory in experiments in the propagation of birds and 

16 quadrupeds. 

DESTRUCTION OF UNDESIRABLE QUADRUPEDS AND BIRDS. 

1 Section 135. The said commission may authorize in 

2 writing any deputy or owner or occupant of any land 

3 within any such territory or other responsible person to 

4 hunt, pursue, trap, snare or kill within the said territory 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 61 

5 and under the direction of the said commission any 

6 quadrupeds or birds which they may consider harmful 

7 or a menace to agriculture, or to take or remove the nests 

8 or eggs of any such bird. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS; PUBLICATION; POSTING. 

1 Section 136. If an order is made by the commission 

2 as aforesaid establishing a close season or a preserve as 

3 above provided, the commission shall cause a copy of the 

4 order to be published once a week for two successive 

5 weeks in one or more newspapers published in the county 

6 or counties embracing the territory, and shall cause copies 

7 of the order to be posted in conspicuous places within the 

8 cities or towns in which the territorj' is situated, and also 

9 within the limits of the territory itself. If a great pond 

10 or any part thereof or any seashore is included within the 

11 territory as to which a close season is ordered as afore- 

12 said, a copy of the order shall be filed in the office of the 

13 clerk of any city or town bordering upon the pond or 

14 seashore, and also in the office of the secretary of the 

15 commonwealth. An order made by the commission in 

16 accordance with the provisions hereof shall take effect 

17 when it is posted as above provided. Any order made in 

18 accordance with the provisions hereof shall contain a 

19 description of the territory so established and the period 

20 for which it is closed, if any such period is adopted. Such 

21 description shall be sufficient if it fully indicates the 

22 outside boundaries of said territory. 



TAKING OF BIRDS AND QUADRUPEDS PROHIBITED. 

1 Section 137. Whenever a territory has been es- 

2 tablished as a preserve or when a close season has been 

3 established upon a territory by an order as above pro- 

4 vided, it shall be unlawful for any person, except as above 

5 provided, to molest, hunt, pursue, take or kill any bird 

6 and quadruped within the said territory, or therein to 

7 disturb or injure any nest, eggs or young, or to remove 

8 the eggs or young from the nest. 



62 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



EVIDENCE OF VIOLATION. 

1 Section 138. The entrance of any person with a fire- 

2 arm or any device adapted for killing or injuring birds 

3 or quadrupeds or with a trap or snare upon any territory 

4 established as a preserve, or upon any territory upon 

5 which a close season has been established, according to 

6 the provisions of this act, shall be prima facie evidence 

7 of a violation of the provisions of this act. 

penalties. 

1 Section 139. Whoever violates any provision of this 

2 act or of any rule or regulation made hereunder shall be 

3 punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, 

4 or by imprisonment for not more than sixty days, or by 

5 both such fine and imprisonment. 

STATE RESERVATIONS TO BE REFUGES. 

1 Section 140. No person shall hunt, pursue, take, kill 

2 or in any manner molest or destroy any wild bird or 

3 game within the exterior boundaries of any state reserva- 

4 tion, park, common or any land held in trust for public 

5 use, or upon any public highway. 

PERMISSION TO HUNT THEREON. 

1 Section 141. The authorities or persons having the 

2 control and charge of such reservations, parks, commons 

3 or other lands may in their discretion, and with such 

4 limitations as they may deem advisable, authorize persons 

5 to hunt, take or kill within said boundaries any wild birds 

6 or animals which are not protected by law. Such au- 

7 thorization shall be by written license, and the license 

8 shall be revocable at the pleasure of the authorities or 

9 persons granting it. 

WHO SHALL ENFORCE LAW ON STATE RESERVATIONS. 

1 Section 142. The boards, officials and persons having 

2 charge of reservations, parks, commons and lands held 

3 for public use shall enforce the provisions of this act. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 68 



Part X. — Breeding, Importation and Sale of Fish, 
Game and Fur-bearing Animals. Private Shooting 
Preserves. 

Section 143. Sale of Fish artificially propagated. 

Section 144. Licenses to breed and sell Birds and Quadrupeds. 

Section 145. Tagging; Manner. 

Section 146. Tagging; Records to be kept. 

Section 147. Tagging; Fur-bearing Animals exempt. 

Section 148. Same; Exceptions; Feathers and Collect i 

Section 149. Private Shooting Preserves. 

Section 150. License may be revoked. 

Section 151. Commission may make Rules and Regulations. 



SALE OF FISH ARTIFICIALLY PROPAGATED. 

1 Section 143. The commissioners on fisheries and 

2 game may, in their discretion, upon written application 

3 and without charge, issue to any person a permit to 

4 propagate, raise and sell such kinds of fish as appear 

5 advisable during the calendar year following the date of 

6 such permit: -provided, however, that before any such fish 

7 shall be transported, sold or offered for sale for food, the 

8 same shall be duly tagged under such rules and regula- 

9 tions as may be prescribed by the commissioners; and 

10 further provided, that any species upon which there is 

11 not a close season need not be tagged. 

LICENSE TO BREED AND SELL BIRDS AND QUADRUPEDS. 

1 Section 144. The commissioners on fisheries and 

2 game may, in their discretion, upon written application, 

3 and. without charge, grant a license to any person to 

4 engage in the rearing of any wild birds or game quad- 

5 rupeds for the purpose of propagation; or of any of the 

6 species known as Cervidse (commonly called deer or elk), 

7 pheasants, quail, European or gray partridge, wild geese, 

8 wild ducks of all species, and such other birds or quad- 

9 rupeds as may from time to time appear to the com- 

10 missioners to be expedient, for consumption as food; or 

11 of fur-bearing animals, for the sale of the hide, skin and 

12 bodies thereof; or to engage in the business of selling and 

13 offering for sale, for consumption as food only, such wild 

14 birds or game quadrupeds as herein provided. Such 

15 license may permit engaging in one or more of such 

16 activities, at the discretion of the commissioners. 



64 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan, 



tagging; manner. 

1 Section 145. It shall be lawful for any person 

2 licensed as herein provided at any time to have in 

3 possession and sell birds or quadrupeds raised for propa- 

4 gation, and to have in possession for consumption as food 

5 only, and to dispose of, the unplucked entire bodies of 

6 those birds and quadrupeds the rearing and sale of 

7 which is hereby authorized, together with those of the 

8 following species of birds imported from without the 

9 United States, namely: pheasants, mallard ducks, Scotch 

10 grouse, European black game, European black plover, red- 

11 leg partridge, and Egyptian or migratory quail; also 

12 deer, moose, caribou and elk legally killed outside this 

13 commonwealth and legally transported therein: provided, 

14 that there is attached to some part of the body of such 

15 deer, moose, caribou or elk the official tag of the state or 

16 country in which it was killed, authorizing shipment 

17 outside of its territory; and provided, further, that before 

18 each bird or quadruped hereinbefore named is disposed of 

19 there shall be affixed to each carcass or part thereof a 

20 numbered tag to be supplied by the commissioners as 

21 hereinafter provided; said tag to be affixed to said body 

22 or carcass upon the entry of said body or carcass into 

23 the commonwealth, if imported, or immediately upon the 

24 killing of birds or quadrupeds, if reared under the pro- 

25 visions of this act, and to remain upon said body or 

26 carcass or part thereof while the same is within this 

27 commonwealth and until consumed. It shall not be 

28 necessary to tag any of the birds or quadrupeds named 

29 in this act where the same have been tagged by the fish 

30 and game authorities of any other state prior to the 

31 importation of such birds or quadrupeds into this com- 

32 monwealth. 

tagging; records to be kept. 

1 Section 146. Said tags shall be furnished by the com- 

2 missioners on fisheries and game to persons holding 

3 licenses, at a cost of five cents each. An accurate record 

4 of birds and quadrupeds so killed and the number of each 

5 tag affixed thereto or to the parts thereof shall be kept 

6 by the licensee and submitted to the commission upon the 

7 first day of each month, together with the names of any 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 65 

8 persons to whom they were sold or transported, and their 

9 addresses. Every package containing birds or quad- 

10 rvipeds killed under the provisions of this section shall be 

11 plainly labelled with the name of the licensee, together 

12 with the name of the consignee, and a statement of the 

13 number and kind of birds or quadrupeds contained there- 

14 in. All carcasses or parts thereof shall remain entire and 

15 unplucked until the time when such carcasses or parts 

16 thereof are prepared for consumption as food. The dis- 

17 posal of any carcass or part thereof not having at the 

18 time affixed thereto the tag required by the provisions of 

19 this section shall constitute a violation of this act. 



tagging; fur-bearing animals exempt. 

1 Section 147. The provisions of this act relating to 

2 tagging shall not apply to fur-bearing animals, but the 

3 breeders of such animals shall sell the hides, skins and 

4 bodies thereof only during the open season for such 

5 animals. 

same; exceptions; feathers and collectors. 

1 Section 148. This section shall not apply to the sale 

2 of feathers and fur except as provided in this act, or 

3 prevent the taking of said birds and quadrupeds by 

4 persons or corporations authorized by the commission so 

5 to do. 

private shooting preserves. 

1 Section 149. A person holding a breeder's license as 

2 provided herein may, upon a preserve or reservation es- 

3 tablished by him, permit birds and quadrupeds, artificially 

4 propagated by him thereon, to be taken or killed in any 

5 manner or at any time, and by any person to whom a 

6 holder of such license may grant permission. The 

7 licensee shall file with the commission a description of 

8 said preserve which shall clearly indicate the outside 

9 boundaries thereof, shall cause the preserve to be fully 

10 enclosed in such a manner as the commission may pre- 

11 scribe, shall tag all birds and quadrupeds taken thereon 

12 before the same are removed from such preserves, and 

13 shall record in a book kept for that purpose daily the 

14 number of birds so taken and killed, the number of the 

15 tag placed on each bird or quadruped, and the names and 



66 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

16 addresses of the persons taking such birds and quad- 

17 rupeds from the preserve, or to whom the same may be 

18 shipped. Said book shall be open to the inspection of 

19 the commission and its deputies and wardens during the 

20 daylight hours of each day. The commission may make 

21 any other rules and regulations affecting this class of 

22 preserves as it may from time to time deem necessary. 

LICENSE MAY BE REVOKED. 

1 Section 150. Any and all licenses issued by said com- 

2 mission on fisheries and game may be revoked by said 

3 commission at any time. 

PRIVATE PRESERVES. 

1 Section 151. (a) An owner, or a person having the 

2 exclusive right to hunt or trap upon enclosed land or 

3 cultivated lands not enclosed, or to take fish in a pond 

4 or stream, who desires to protect his land or land over 

5 which he has such exclusive control, shall maintain 

6 notices or signboards not less than two feet long by one 

7 foot wide, stating that shooting, trapping or fishing is 

8 prohibited and giving the name of such owner or person, 

9 upon every twenty-five acres of the premises sought to be 

10 protected, upon or near the boundaries thereof, and one 

11 such sign at each corner thereof; said posters shall show 

12 the date on which such waters were stocked, and shall be 

13 maintained upon or near the shores thereof in at least two 

14 conspicuous places. No person shall take or disturb fish, 

15 birds or animals upon such private preserve, or injure, 

16 deface or remove such notice or signboard: provided, 

17 however, that no forfeiture as provided in the following 

18 subdivision of this section shall result from entering such 

19 land for the purpose of fishing, unless the owner or 

20 occupant thereof stocks and keeps stocked the waters of 

21 such land, at his expense, with trout or other fish arti- 

22 ficially hatched or reared. The stocking of waters under 

23 this provision shall mean the placing therein annually by 

24 the owner or occupant of the land in which such posted 

25 waters lie not less than one thousand fry or three hundred 

26 fingerlings, for each half mile or less of stream or each 

27 acre or less of pond or pool so posted; and such owner or 

28 occupant shall annually, immediately after stocking such 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 67 

29 posted waters, file with the town clerk of the town in 

30 which such posted waters lie a sworn affidavit stating 

31 that the provisions of this section have been complied 

32 with. Such affidavit shall show the number and kind of 

33 fish so distributed by the owner or occupant in such 

34 waters, from whom such fish were purchased or procured, 

35 and the date thereof. The town clerk shall file such 

36 affidavit in his office, and it shall be open to inspection by 

37 the public in the same manner as other public documents. 

38 If waters or lands are hereafter stocked by the state with 

39 fish or game with the knowledge and consent of the 

40 owner, the provisions of this section shall no longer apply 

41 thereto. 

42 (b) A person who takes or disturbs fish, game or 

43 animals in violation of subdivision (a) of this section shall 

44 be subject to exemplary damages in the sum of twenty- 

45 five dollars for each offence or trespass, to be recovered by 

46 the owner of the lands, or of hunting and fishing rights 

47 thereon, with costs of suit, in addition to the actual 

48 damages, all of which may be recovered in the same 

49 action on this section. The consent in writing of such 

50 owner to hunt or fish on such lands during the open 

51 season shall be a defence to a prosecution under this 

52 section; and a person who wilfully shoots, wounds or 

53 destroys a deer on such land so posted shall forfeit fifty 

54 dollars additional, to be recovered by the owner or 

55 occupant thereof in an action of trespass or on the case. 

COMMISSION MAY MAKE RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

1 Section 152. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may make such further rules and regulations for the 

3 purpose of enforcing Part X, as may appear necessary, 

4 which rules and regulations shall have the force and 

5 effect of law. 

violations; forfeiture of license. 

1 Section 153. Any person or corporation holding a 

2 license under this part who shall be convicted of any 

3 violation of the fish and game laws shall forfeit such 

4 license for a period of one year from the date of con- 

5 viction, in addition to being subject to the penalties here- 

6 inafter provided. Any person who has within one year 



68 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

7 been convicted of any violation of the game laws shall be 

8 ineligible, and any corporation of which he is a member 

9 shall be ineligible to hold any license under this act. 

PENALTIES. 

1 Section 154. Whoever violates any provisions of this 

2 section, or any rule or regulation of the commission made 

3 as aforesaid, or counterfeits or uses a second time any 

4 tags used as herein provided, or assists directly or in- 

5 directly in any such violation shall be punished by a fine 

6 of not less than fifty dollars, and an additional fine of 

7 twenty-five dollars for each bird or quadruped or part 

8 thereof in respect to which the violation occurs, and for 

9 a second offence shall be punished by imprisonment for a 
10 term not exceeding three months. 



Part XI. — Powers and Duties of Commission. 

Section 155. Appointment of Commission. 

Section 156. General Powers and Duties of Commission. 

Section 157. Power to take Property. 

Section 158. Power to occupy Certain Great Ponds. 

Section 159. Power of the Commission to dispose of Game and Fish seized. 

Section 160. Power to take Fish, Birds and Quadrupeds. 

Section 161. Power to make Investigations. 

Section 162. Power to close Streams. 

Section 163. Power to take Birds and Quadrupeds. 

Section 164. Certificates for Scientific Collection. 

Section 165. Publication of Laws relating to Fish and Game. 

Section 166. Observance of Rules and Regulations. 

Section 167. Protection of Property and Material used by the Commission. 

Section 16S. Disposition of Documents of Commission. 



APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSION. 

1 Section 155. There shall be a commission on fisheries 

2 and game consisting of three persons, who shall be ap- 

3 pointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of 

4 the council, for the term of five years from the time of 

5 their appointments, and who shall be removable for cause 

6 at the pleasure of the governor. 

GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION. 

1 Section 156. The commission shall have charge, 

2 control and management, including propagation and 

3 distribution, of all fish, game, birds, shellfish and Crustacea 

4 within the commonwealth, whether wild, artificially 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 69 

5 propagated or imported. It shall have the conduct and 

6 control of all hatching and biological stations, preserves, 

7 or reservations for fish, birds or game quadrupeds and 

8 fish and game farms owned, operated or hereafter acquired 

9 or taken under control by the commonwealth as herein 

10 provided; and for the above purposes may from time to 

11 time make such rules and regulations as it shall deem 

12 necessary in respect thereto. The commission shall have 

13 charge of the enforcement of all laws for the protection of 

14 fish, shellfish, birds and wild quadrupeds, lands under 

15 water which have been or shall be designated, surveyed 

16 and mapped out pursuant to law, as oyster beds or shell- 

17 fish grounds; and for the purpose of such enforcement 

18 said commission shall have all the authority given to 

19 deputies and all other powers included in this act and the 

20 general law in relation to the above mentioned matters; 

21 power to make rules regulating the transportation, im- 

22 portation and exportation of fish, shellfish, birds and 

23 quadrupeds, and the pursuit and taking of the same 

24 where not provided by law; the fixing of fees and the 

25 terms therefor when not provided by law; direct, in its 

26 discretion, the construction of fishways and fish screens; 

27 have the entire control of the fisheries in public waters; 

28 and at the expense of the state introduce suitable va- 

29 rieties of fish into streams, lakes and ponds, not private 

30 preserves or posted waters, as it deems best suited to 

31 successful cultivation of fish; and such other powers and 

32 duties as are or may be imposed upon said commission 

33 by law. The commission shall keep an account of the 

34 proceedings and business of its office, and shall annually 

35 submit a report of its activities to the Legislature. 

36 The commissioners on fisheries and game may, for the 

37 purpose of creating or developing a public fishery for 

38 smelts, alewives, shad, white perch, trout, eels or other 

39 useful food or bait fish, open or construct pools, ditches, 

40 sluiceways or canals upon a stream between bodies of 

41 public waters, not, however, impairing private rights 

42 without compensation, and for creating, developing and 

43 conserving such fishery may make suitable regulations. 

44 The commissioners on fisheries and game are hereby 

45 authorized to prohibit fishing in the headwaters of any 

46 stream, or, in such special cases where in their opinion 

47 the interests of the public will be better safeguarded 



70 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

48 thereby, may regulate or prohibit fishing in the entire 

49 stream or such portion of it as conditions may from time 

50 to time require, for the purpose of preventing destruction 

51 of fish on the spawning grounds, injury to fish below legal 

52 size, or of taking or killing fish which are specially 

53 valuable for furnishing spawn for artificial or natural 

54 propagation. 

55 Before any such waters are closed to fishing the said 

56 commissioners shall cause to be conspicuously posted 

57 notices proclaiming the above facts. 



POWER TO TAKE PROPERTY. 

1 Section 157. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 is hereby authorized to take, or receive as a gift, or lease, 

3 or to purchase for, and in the name of the common- 

4 wealth, such improved or unimproved property as they 

5 may deem necessary for the purpose of carrying out the 

6 provisions of this act; and the control and use of the 

7 lands or other property so acquired or leased, or of any 

8 land or property otherwise placed under the temporary 

9 or permanent control of said commission for said purpose, 

10 shall be vested in said commissioners. 

11 Said commission shall, within thirty days after taking 

12 any land under this act, file and cause to be recorded in 

13 the office of the register of deeds for the county or 

14 counties within which said property lies a certificate 

15 describing by metes and bounds the land so taken, stating 

16 the names of the owners, so far as they may be known, 

17 and also stating the purpose of such taking as herein- 

18 before specified. Said plan and certificate shall be signed 

19 by a majority of said commissioners. 

20 Any person sustaining damages by the taking of land 

21 as herein provided who fails to agree with said com- 

22 mission as to the amount thereof may, on application at 

23 any time within one year after the taking of such land, 

24 have the same assessed and determined in the manner 

25 provided by law in the case of land taken for the laying 

26 out of highways. 

27 In any proceedings for the recovery of damages here- 

28 under, said commission may offer in court and may con- 

29 sent in writing that the sum therein specified may be 

30 awarded to the complainant as damages; and if the 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 71 

31 complainant shall not accept the same within ten days 

32 after he has received notice of such offer and shall not 

33 finally recover a greater sum than that offered, not 

34 including interest on the sum recovered in damages from 

35 the date of the offer, said commission shall be entitled to 

36 recover costs after such date; and the complainant, if he 

37 recovers damages, shall be allowed costs only to the date 

38 of the offer. 

POWER TO OCCUPY CERTAIN GREAT PONDS. 

1 Section 158. (a) The commissioners may occupy, 

2 manage and control not more than ten great ponds for 

3 the purpose of cultivating useful fish, birds and quad- 

4 rupeds", and of distributing them within the common- 

5 wealth, and may occupy any part thereof with enclosures 

6 and appliances for the purpose of such cultivation and 

7 propagation; but this privilege shall not affect any public 

8 rights to or in such ponds other than the right of fishing, 

9 hunting and trapping, and the appliances and enclosures 

10 shall be so placed as not to debar ingress to or egress 

11 from such ponds at proper places.- 

12 (b) If the commissioners determine to so occupy and 

13 improve any such pond, they shall post a notice of such 

14 purpose in a public place in the town or towns in which 

15 said pond is situated, and file a like notice in the office of 

16 the clerk of each of said towns and in the office of the 

17 secretary of the commonwealth. The affidavit of an 

18 officer qualified to serve civil process that such notice has 

19 been posted shall be deemed full proof thereof. 

20 (c) After such notice has been so filed and posted, any 

21 violation of any of the rights of said commissioners hereby 

22 established shall be punished as herein provided. 

POWER OF THE COMMISSION TO DISPOSE OF GAME AND FISH 

SEIZED. 

1 Section 159. Fish, birds, quadrupeds or shellfish, or 

2 parts thereof, found in the possession or under the control 

3 of a person contrary to law, together with all parapher- 

4 nalia used and employed in such violation, shall be seized 

5 and confiscated without further action by the com- 

6 missioners or their deputies, in the name of the common- 

7 wealth; and the commissioners may, in their discretion, 



72 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

8 sell or otherwise dispose of the same, as they may deem 

9 for the best interests of the commonwealth, and the same 
10 may be transported at any time for such purpose. 

POWER TO TAKE FISH, BIRDS AND QUADRUPEDS. 

1 Section 160. The commissioners may take birds, 

2 game, fish and shellfish at such times and in such manner 

3 as they may deem proper, or may cause to be removed 

4 from public or private waters fish which hinder or prevent 

5 the propagation of game or food fish. Such removal shall 
<i be under the direction of said commission; birds, game, 

7 fish and shellfish taken under this section may be disposed 

8 of and possessed under such regulations as the com- 

9 missioners may establish. 

POWER TO MAKE INVESTIGATIONS. 

1 Section 161. The authority of the commissioners 

2 shall extend to the investigation of questions relating to 

3 fish, birds, game and shellfish, and they may from time 

4 to time, personally br by assistants, institute and conduct 

5 inquiries pertaining to such questions. 

POWER TO CLOSE STREAMS AND PONDS. 

1 Section 162. The commission may close any navigable 

2 or unnavigable stream, pond or lake, or any portion there- 

3 of, for a period not to exceed three years, upon notice 

4 duly published once each week for three consecutive 

5 weeks in a newspaper in the county or counties in which 

6 said waters lie, and also by signs posted conspicuously 

7 upon the banks of such streams. The commission may 

8 stock said waters with fish and may make such rules and 

9 regulations in regard to the use of said waters as are 

10 necessary to such work. Ten days prior to and con- 

1 1 tinuing ten days after the usual spawning period of any 

12 species of fish, the commission may close a navigable or 

13 unnavigable stream or pond or lake, or portions thereof, 

14 where such species congregate preparatory to or during 

15 the spawning season. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 73 



POWER TO TAKE BIRDS AND QUADRUPEDS. 

1 Section 163. In the event that any species of birds or 

2 quadrupeds protected by law shall, at any time, in any 

3 locality, become destructive of private or public property, 

4 the commission shall have power in its discretion to issue 

5 a permit to any citizen or citizens of the commonwealth 

6 to take such species of birds or quadrupeds and dispose 

7 of the same in such manner as the commission may 

8 provide. Such permit shall expire within four months 

9 after the date of issuance. 

CERTIFICATES FOR' SCIENTIFIC COLLECTION. 

1 Section 164. The commission may issue a license, 

2 revocable at its pleasure, to any person, permitting the 

3 holder to collect or possess fish, quadrupeds, birds, birds' 

4 nests or eggs for propagation or scientific purposes but 

5 not for sale; said commission may specify what species 

6 may not be taken and the manner of taking. Before 

7 such license is issued, every applicant except a deputy, 

8 duly chartered museum or society incorporated for 

9 scientific or public exhibition purposes, or an officer 

10 thereof, must file written testimonials from two well- 

11 known scientific men. A person receiving such license 

12 must report the result of operation thereunder annually 

13 to the commission, at the expiration of the license, or at 

14 such other times as the commission may direct. Such 

15 license shall not be transferable, and may be revoked at 

16 any time by the commission. 

PUBLICATION OF LAWS RELATING TO FISH AND GAME. 

1 Section 165. As soon as practicable after the adjourn- 

2 ment of the legislature in each year, the commission shall 

3 make a compilation of the laws relating to fish and game 

4 as amended at the date of such compilation, and properly 

5 index the same. Copies of said compilation sufficient in 

6 number for the purpose of this act shall be printed in 

7 pamphlet form of pocket size, under the direction of the 

8 commission. There shall be delivered to each city and 

9 town clerk a supply sufficient for furnishing one copy to 

10 each person procuring a license, and each such person 

1 1 shall be entitled to one copy. 



74 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



OBSERVANCE OF RULES AND REGULATIONS. 

1 Section 166. Every person shall obey, observe and 

2 comply with every order, regulation or rule made by the 

3 commission, under authority of this article; any person 

4 violating or attempting to violate any such order, rule or 

5 regulation shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, 

6 unless otherwise specifically provided. 

protection of property and material used by the 

commission. 

1 Section 167. Whoever wilfully and without right 

2 enters in or upon any building or other structure or any 

3 area of land or water set apart and used by or under 

4 authority of the commission on fisheries and game for 

5 any purpose connected with the work of said commission, 

6 and after said commission has caused printed notices of 

7 such occupation and use and the purposes thereof to be 

8 placed in a conspicuous position adjacent to any such 

9 areas of land or water, or upon any such building or 
10 other structure, and any person who wilfully and ma- 
ll liciously injures or defaces any such building or other 

12 structure or any notice posted as aforesaid or injures or 

13 destroys any property used for such purposes, or other- 

14 wise interferes therewith, shall be punished by imprison- 

15 ment for not more than six months or by a fine of not 

16 more than two hundred dollars, or both such fine and 

17 imprisonment. And said commission and its deputies are 

18 hereby authorized to arrest without warrant any person 

19 found violating the provisions of this act. 

DISPOSITION OF DOCUMENTS OF COMMISSION. 

1 Section 168. The commission may destroy from time 

2 to time license books, stubs, licenses and license blanks, 

3 after the same have been properly audited by the state 

4 auditor, and also old examination papers, old applications 

5 for hunters' licenses, old applications for fish, quadrupeds 

6 and birds and such other like documents as the board 

7 may deem it unnecessary to keep, after the same have 

8 been noted on the official records. 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 75 



Part XII. — Deputy Commissioners on Fisheries and 

Game. 

Section 169. Appointment. 

Section 170. Rules and Regulations. 

Section 171. Salaries. 

Section 172. Powers of Deputies. 

Section 173. Search Warrants. 

Section 174. Powers as Fire Wardens. 

Section 175. Deputies may carry Weapons. 

Section 176. Passage over Private Lands. 

Section 177. Records and Reports. 

Section 178. Suits against Deputies. 

Section 179. Town Wardens. 

Section ISO. Impersonating Deputies. 



APPOINTMENT. 

1 Section 169. The commission on fisheries and game 

2 may, from time to time as it shall deem expedient, appoint 

3 deputy commissioners on fisheries and game. The com- 

4 mission may also appoint a chief deputy, biologist, 

5 wardens arid other employees. The chief deputy shall 

6 have general supervision and control of all deputies and 

7 wardens, subject to the direction of the commissioners. 

rules and regulations. 

1 Section 170. The commissioners shall have authority 

2 to make such rules and regulations as in their judgment 

3 are required to organize and maintain the warden service 

4 and to carry out the provisions of this section. 

SALARIES. 

1 Section 171. The salaries of said chief deputy and 

2 deputies, biologist and other employees shall be fixed by 

3 the commissioners. 

powers of deputies. 

1 Section 172. The deputies and wardens shall, under 

2 the direction of the commissioners, enforce all laws re- 

3 lating to fish, birds, quadrupeds and shellfish, all rules 

4 and regulations of the commission relating to the same; 

5 and shall have power to execute all warrants and search 

6 warrants issued for a violation of this act, to serve 

7 subpoenas issued for the examination and investigation or 



76 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 

8 trial of offences against any of the provisions of said law; 

9 and shall have all the powers of constables, except the 

10 service of civil process, and of policemen and watchmen; 

11 may request of any person whom said deputy or warden 

12 reasonably believes to be engaged in the taking, killing, 

13 hunting or snaring of fish, birds or animals, contrary to 

14 law, that such person shall forthwith display for the in- 

15 spection of such deputy or warden any and all fish, birds, 

16 quadrupeds and shellfish in the possession of such person 

17 at the time of such request, and upon refusal to comply 

18 with such request said deputy or warden may arrest 

19 without warrant the person so refusing; where they have 

20 cause' to believe that fish, birds, quadrupeds, shellfish, 

21 plumage or furs or any part thereof are illegally pos- 

22 sessed, or that any of the provisions of the act are being 

23 violated, without search warrant to examine the contents 

24 of any boat, car, automobile, wagon or other conveyance, 

25 box, locker, basket, creel, crate, game bag, shooting coat, 

26 or other package, and the contents of any building other 

27 than a dwelling house, and to use such force as may be 

28 necessary for the purpose of such examination and in- 

29 spection; and with a search warrant to search and ex- 

30 amine the contents of any building or dwelling house, 

31 seize all birds, fish, quadrupeds and shellfish or any parts 

32 thereof possessed in violation of law or showing evidence 

33 of illegal taking, and hold the same subject to the order 

34 of the commissioners; and to seize the net, trap, vessel, 

35 boat, craft or other apparatus or paraphernalia used in 

36 connection with such violation. Said deputy or warden 

37 or officer may libel said property according to law where 

38 required, or at his discretion sell the same or any part 

39 thereof at private or public sale according to law, where 

40 required, in the same manner and with the same effect as 

41 if such proceeds were the property itself; to arrest with- 

42 out warrant in any part of the commonwealth any person 

43 committing a misdemeanor under the provisions of this 

44 act in their presence, and take such person immediately 

45 before a magistrate having jurisdiction for trial; and 

46 retain such person in custody at the expense of the state 

47 until opportunity is given to notify a prosecuting officer, 

48 who shall forthwith prosecute such offender; and to 

49 exercise such other powers of peace officers in the enforce- 

50 ment of the provisions of this act or of judgments 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 77 

51 obtained for violations thereof as are not herein specifi- 

52 cally provided. Any commissioner, deputy or warden who 

53 shall compromise or settle any violation of the fish and 

54 game law out of court shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 

SEARCH WARRANTS. 

1 Section 173. A court or justice authorized to issue 

2 warrants in criminal cases shall, upon complaint under 

3 oath that the complainant believes that any birds, fish, 

4 quadrupeds or shellfish taken or held are concealed in a 

5 particular place, including a dwelling house, if satisfied 

6 that there is a reasonable cause for such belief, issue a 

7 warrant to search therefor. The search warrant shall 

8 designate and describe the place or dwelling to be searched 

9 and the articles for which search is to be made, and shall 

10 be directed to any officer named, commanding him to 

11 search the place or dwelling where the birds, fish, quadru- 

12 peds or shellfish for which he is required to search are be- 

13 lieved to be concealed, and to seize the same if any such 

14 be found. 

POWERS AS FIRE WARDENS. 

1 Section 174. It shall be the duty of all such deputies 

2 and wardens while in and about the woods to caution 

3 persons of the danger from fires in the woods, to ex- 

4 tinguish a fire left burning, if within their power; and 

5 they may, without warrant, arrest any person found in 

6 the act of unlawfully setting a fire. It shall further be 

7 their duty to give notice to all parties interested, when 

8 possible, and to the forest fire warden of the town 

9 interested in particular, of fires threatening to extend 

10 beyond their control. Pending the arrival of such fire 

11 wardens they shall assume all the powers of such wardens 

12 as provided by statute. For time consumed and expenses 

13 incurred in carrying out the provisions herein set forth 

14 they shall render a statement, accompanied by proper 

15 vouchers, to the treasurer of the town in which the fire 
10 occurred, who shall arrange for payment under the same 

17 terms and conditions as provided for the payment of 

18 regular forest fire wardens. 



78 FISHERIES AND GAME. [Jan. 



DEPUTIES MAY CARRY WEAPONS. 

1 Section 175. The commissioners, with the approval 

2 of the governor, may in writing authorize any of their 

3 deputies or wardens to have in possession and carry a 

4 revolver, club, billy, handcuffs and twisters, or such other 

5 weapons or articles as may be required in the performance 

6 of their official duty. 

PASSAGE OVER PRIVATE LANDS. 

1 Section 176. Each of the deputies or wardens may, 

2 in the performance of his duties, enter upon and pass 

3 through or over private property. 

RECORDS AND REPORTS. 

1 Section 177. Each deputy and warden shall make 

2 such reports as are required by the commission. 

suits against deputies. 

1 Section 178. It shall be the duty of the attorney- 

2 general, on request of any deputy or warden, accompanied 

3 with the approval of the commissioners, to appear in and 

4 defend as attorney, or to designate some attorney to 

5 appear on his behalf and defend, any action or proceedings 

6 prosecuted against the deputy or warden for or on account 

7 of any act of his done while holding such office, and when 

8 such act was, in the opinion of the attorney-general, done 

9 in discharge of the deputy's or warden's official duty or 
10 in reasonable exercise of his authority. 

TOWN WARDENS. 

1 Section 179. (a) The commissioners on fisheries and 

2 game are hereby authorized, upon written application 

3 made by the city government of a city or the selectmen 

4 of a town, to appoint in each city or town in the common- 

5 wealth applying therefor one or more fish, game and bird 

6 wardens, who shall be known as town wardens; who 

7 shall have powers and duties identical with those of the 

8 salaried deputies, and who shall act under the authority 

9 and instructions of the commissioners. The annual com- 
10 pensation of every such town warden, not less than fifty 



1915.] HOUSE — No. 186. 79 

11 dollars, shall be paid by the city or town in which he is 

12 appointed, or by private citizens or corporations. 

13 (6) The appointments of town wardens shall be from a 

14 list of names to be submitted to the commission by the 

15 city government of a city or the selectmen of a town. 

IMPERSONATING A DEPUTY. 

1 Section 180. Whoever impersonates said deputies or 

2 wardens or acts as such deputies or wardens without 

3 authority so to do shall be guilty of a violation of this 

4 act and shall be fined twenty-five dollars. 



Part XIII. — Time of Taking Effect. 

Section 181. Time of taking Effect. 
Section 182. Repeal of other Laws. 



TIME OF TAKING EFFECT. 

1 Section 181. This act shall take effect January one, 

2 nineteen hundred and sixteen. 



REPEAL OF OTHER LAWS. 

1 Section 182. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent 

2 herewith are hereby repealed. 



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